May 22, 2011

Anchor Clock

The famous Ankeruhr (Anchor Clock) forms a bridge between two buildings of the Anker Insurance Company located in the oldest square of Vienna, Hoher Market. 

 Vienna, 2011

Franz von Matsch designed this elaborate clock in the Art Nouveau style I introduced here. It was built in 1917 to commemorate twelve famous Austrian personalities, such as Prince Eugen, Empress Maria Theresa, composer Joseph Haydn and others. 

Each hour, one of the figures moves across the bridge. If you enlarge the image, you can better see that I took the photo at about 17:40, but I can't tell you who this figure represents. At noon, the historical figures are all displayed together; I missed that show.

Linking to the community fascinated by bridges at Sunday Bridges.

22 comments:

cieldequimper said...

Yes, yes, yes, I remember this from my childhood!!! Isn't it just fantastic? :-)

Carolyn Ford said...

this must be amazing! what a grand clock!!!

Kay L. Davies said...

A beautiful photo when enlarged, Francisca. I couldn't tell the time on this clock, but it is just gorgeous.
— K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

Lesley said...

These kinds of clocks are fascinating and so much fun to watch time moving!

EG CameraGirl said...

Magnificent, Francisca. I enlarged the photo to see it better and WoW!

Pat said...

Holy Cow! Do you mean the figure moves across that bridge like a giant cuckoo clock? Unbelievable! How beautiful! thanks for sharing this!

VioletSky said...

What a great clock! It looks like it is kept in good condition.
Does he bounce back to the far left at the new hour? Did you not wait around to see what would happen?

Unknown said...

Obsessive compulsive person that I am, I probably would have stood there taking pictures on the hour until 12 noon. Wonderful photo.

Dina said...

What fun!
I've enjoyed the clock show in Prague but did not know about this one. I wonder how many other old moving clocks there are in Europe.

Unknown said...

an amazing clock in the most interesting location.

Francisca said...

@Kay... the HOUR on the clock is the Roman numeral on the head of the figure and the MINUTES are on the bar above the figure. :-D

Francisca said...

@Pat... there are TWELVE figures, one for every 12 hours. And each figure is visible in the center for one hour.

Francisca said...

@VioletSky... no, I didn't stay with the clock for long. The figure you see is V for the fifth hour, so for hour six, a new historical figure apprears.

Carola said...

Wonderful bridge shot.
That is an amazing clock. Yes, there are a lot in Europe. Haven't seen this in Vienna. Near my hometown in Goslar (World Heritage Site)is a famous glockenspiel.

Birdman said...

Amazing! I'd love to see this old timepiece.

Kaori said...

Wow, that is super fancy! I'd have to take a day to just sit and watch all the dolls pass by :D

Reader Wil said...

Thank you for sharing this beautiful and interesting bridge and I love the clock, for it's so beautiful!

H said...

What an amazing clock!

tapirgal said...

I've always loved those bridges between buildings. They always feel so Medieval or Remnaissance, and they usually have something interesting about them. So this one is Art Nouveau . . . and a clock! Very cool.

Unknown said...

Very nice.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Beautiful -- and I knew the style because of your previous post ;>)...I only had a vague idea of what art noveau was before that.

Unknown said...

Fantastic!