DRESDEN.- To mark 200 years since the birth of Ferdinand Adolph Lange, the special exhibition “Simple and Perfect. Saxony’s Path into the World of International Watchmaking.” will be presenting the history of precision horology in Saxony based on some 80 exhibits. It uses the works of three outstanding figures to demonstrate the development of the first precision timepieces up to high-quality series production, introducing the careers of the amateur Johann Heinrich Seyffert (1751–1817) and the master clockmaker Johann Christian Friedrich Gutkaes (1785–1845). Far away from the great clockmaking centres in England, France and Switzerland, these pioneers of Saxon precision clockmaking set the conditions for Ferdinand Adolph Lange (1815–1875) to successfully found a pocketwatch factory in Glashütte.

In this context, the exhibition focuses on the key role played by the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon in the development of precision horology in Dresden. In around 1780 the Salon became a centre for observational astronomy, making it dependent on precision timekeeping. Lange followed on from his predecessors’ efforts, bringing strict scientific methods into horology. He constructed a mechanism which met high standards in terms of precision while at the same time fulfilling the needs of series production. This allowed him to produce timepieces which were both simple and perfect.

As well as items from the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon, the exhibition also presents significant loans, including such unusual pieces as the marine chronometer, probably Germany’s oldest, built by Johann Georg Thiell in 1768; an incredibly early high-precision pendulum clock with a deadbeat escapement, or a travelling alarm clock made by Thomas Mudge (1715–1794), lent by the British Museum. This is one of the few clocks into which Mudge built his invention, the detached lever escapement. It also shows the Lange & Söhne “King Ludwig II” watch, whose decorative enamelled housing features five scenes from Wagner’s Ring, on loan from the Museum of the Bavarian Kings in Hohenschwangau.

The pocketwatch collection at the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon was so seriously damaged by the aerial attacks on Dresden in 1945 that some of the timepieces on exhibition can no longer be examined by conventional means. Now, X-ray computed tomographic images specially commissioned for the exhibition offer an insight into the fascinating inner life of these mechanical timekeepers. Moreover, a modern touchscreen application introduces visitors to the significance of precision timepieces in determining geographical longitude, while an animation explains a key component of high-quality pocketwatches: the anchor escapement.