Clock and watch factory
Friedrich Mauthe
Also recorded as: Mauthe · Friedrich Mauthe GmbH · Uhrenfabrik Mauthe · Fr. Mauthe
Family clock factory in Schwenningen, from a village shop in 1844 to one of the major German clock makers before its bankruptcy in 1975.
Friedrich Mauthe (1822–1884) and his wife Marie, née Kienzle, opened a general shop in Schwenningen in 1844 that also sold clock parts and finished Black Forest clocks; the business soon began making its own movements. In the early twentieth century Mauthe grew into a large factory with branches in Austria and France and an export trade, England in particular, in wall, mantel and alarm clocks; it later also made wristwatches, including gift watches for Volkswagen drivers in the 1950s.
The company remained a family firm, owned by descendants of the founder, until it filed for bankruptcy in 1975, part of the collapse of much of the German clock industry. The name was revived in 2011 by Bernd Mauthe for clocks made in Wehingen.
- Country
- Germany
- City / centre
- Schwenningen, Black Forest
- Founded
- 1844
- Status
- Closed 1975 (name revived 2011)
- Key people
- Friedrich Mauthe (1822–1884); Marie Mauthe, née Kienzle (1823–1874)
Innovations & specialities
- Factory production of Black Forest wall, mantel and alarm clocks
Works by Friedrich Mauthe in the catalogue
All 18 records →
Movements & Components · 1900–1999
Clock movement by Friedrich Mauthe, Germany, 1900–1999 (no. 59468)
German Clock Museum
Movements & Components · 1900–1999
Clock movement by Friedrich Mauthe, Germany, 1900–1999 (no. 59469)
German Clock Museum
Clocks · c. 1910
Alarm clock by Friedrich Mauthe, Germany, c. 1910
German Clock Museum
Clocks · c. 1910
Alarm clock by Friedrich Mauthe, Germany, c. 1910
German Clock Museum
Movements & Components · c. 1930
Alarm clock by Friedrich Mauthe, Germany, c. 1930
German Clock Museum
Movements & Components · c. 1930
Alarm clock by Friedrich Mauthe, Germany, c. 1930
German Clock Museum
Clocks · 1946–1959
Clock by Friedrich Mauthe GmbH, 1946–1959
LVR-Freilichtmuseum Lindlar – Bergisches Freilichtmuseum für Ökologie und bäuerlich-handwerkliche Kultur
Clocks · 1950s
Alarm clock by Mauthe, Germany, 1950s
HKM / Kulttuurihistoriallinen
Clocks · c. 1960
Wall clock by Friedrich Mauthe, Germany, c. 1960
German Clock Museum
Wristwatches · c. 1960
Wristwatch by Friedrich Mauthe, Germany, c. 1960
German Clock Museum
Clocks · c. 1970
Alarm clock by Friedrich Mauthe, Germany, c. 1970
German Clock Museum
Clocks · c. 1970
Table clock by Friedrich Mauthe, Germany, c. 1970
German Clock Museum
Linked through the Atlas maker authority list, which reconciles the spellings used by different institutions. Attributions are as stated by each holding institution or auction house.
Read and see more
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Seth Thomas, Ansonia, Ingraham, Junghans, Gustav Becker, Kienzle, Japy, Smiths, Jaeger-LeCoultre — the clock makers whose names turn up most often on mantelpieces, in attics and at auction, where they worked, what they made, and where to look on a clock for the marks that identify it.
