Cuckoo clocks are a long and storied fixture of German culture. It is believed that during the 18th-century farmers in south-western Germany started making cuckoo clocks using logs from the Black Forest. This is widely believed to be the time and the place of the birth of the cuckoo clock. The story goes that during the winters, farmers would put their time to making these musical cuckoo clocks which could be sold to earn a living whilst their farms lay dormant.
The cuckoo clock has been attributed to Franz Anton Ketterer, a reputable clockmaker operating around the 1730’s from the Black Forest village of Schönwald (a village where many cuckoo clockmakers still operate workshops to this day). Others assert that Michael Dilger & Matthäus Hummel may have had a hand in creating the first standard cuckoo clock in 1742.
Whatever the case, the cuckoo clock has been around for nearly two centuries, and they continue to delight young and old alike.
At Wonderland Antiques we have been fortunate to acquire a number of Black Forest cuckoo clocks in all shapes, sizes, and details. We have basic cuckoos that keep time and cuckoo. We have mechanical cuckoos that add the fun of music, and animation. We recently acquired some quartz (battery operated) cuckoos with additional features, including music, motion, and a sensor that quiets them when the sun goes down. If you like the look of a cuckoo but are concerned about the “noise” these quartz clocks are for you. They each feature a switch that allows you to turn off the sound altogether while still being able to keep the current time.
So, if you are in the market for a reasonably priced Cuckoo clock, come and see our current selection – before they are all gone!