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In a Nutshell
This Schneider Cuckoo Clock with Model Number 8TMT 1050/9 is hard to find. It features a Schneider Regula No.34 8-Day Movement, a Cuendet-Reuge Music Work with Airs "Der Fröhliche Wanderer" and "Edelweiss", 4 Dancing Couples on lower Balcony, a moving Blacksmith, moving Deers and a fully Automatic Night Chime Stop. It comes in the Original Box with Paper Work and looks unused
Introduction:
The Anton Schneider Söhne Uhrenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG (ref.1 and pict.24) started 6 generations ago in 1848 as a little family enterprise in their farm house in Schonach, in the Black Forest mountains in Germany, an hour's drive from Freiburg in Breisgau. In 1850, with government support, the first clock maker school was founded in Furtwangen by Robert Gerwig, who also two years later laid the foundation for the "Deutsches Uhrenmuseum", today the largest museum of its kind worldwide. Schonach-Triberg is the cuckoo clock capital of the world, since all major factories are there (August Schwer, Helmut Kammerer [Hekas], Rombach & Haas [Romba], Hubert Herr). It is known as the home of the largest cuckoo clock ever made, and is situated along the "Deutsche Uhrenstrasse" (German Clock Route, pict.26). This route is a 320 km long loop, connecting more than 30 towns with clock manufacturers and ateliers, museums and stores and is one of the nicest scenic drives in Black Forest, only rivaled by the Schwarzwaldhochstrasse. The "Haus der 1000 Uhren" (House of 1000 Clocks) (picts.18,24) in Triberg, where my clock was purchased in 1989, is too a very old enterprise, owned by the Weisser family since 5 generations. They not only sell clocks internationally and over the internet, but also produce clocks themselves, like Schneider.
Anton Schneider today is the biggest cuckoo clock manufacturer, but still each and every clock is hand-made, hand carved and painted (ref.2). Attention to detail, tradition maintenance, safeguarding of their skilled woodcarvers jobs, and training of young new talents in their own workshop, makes an ever increasing customer base love and admire Anton Schneider's cuckoo clocks. Schneider is leading the market in particular, when it comes to cuckoo clocks with moving scenes, hand-carved figurines, music and dancing figures and couples. About 300 different clocks have been made with 1-day and 8-day clockworks, with several moving scenes and often playing music every half or full hour, mostly alternating between the two popular German folksongs "Edelweiss" and "Der Fröhliche Wanderer" (Happy Wanderer).
On sale we have here the 1988 model 8TMT 1050-9 (8T = 8day movement, MT = music and dancing figures, 9 = antique finish, also pictured on page 28 of ref.1). Most cuckoo clocks with not-to-miss dancing figurines have the dancers located below the cuckoo door. Here we have 4 dancing couples, rarely seen excentrically on a balcony of the first floor (in Schneiders catalog (ref.1) only 2 out of 130 clocks show this feature).
In addition we see the moving scene of a blacksmith with anvil and furnace and a rotating pair of deer figurines. Rabbits, a fox, a horse and a dog complement the zoo around the house. I found two more instances of my clock and a close relative on the internet (pict.21, the lower left is offered at $1695 in ref.3, the upper right at €1421 in ref.4 ). There are however several details that differ (for example the roof and the windows), suggesting that every clock Schneider ever made, is unique. Dating of the clock is easy, the stamp 34-W on the Regula movement meaning it was made in 1988. In the early 1980's Schneider introduced a fully automatic night chime stop (the black lever in pict 15 and pict.22), that when enabled disables the cuckoo calls and the music during the night from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. Abraham Louis Cuendet, the renowned maker of music boxes in L'Auberson, Switzerland, was bought by another renowned maker of luxury musical movement items since 1865, Charles Reuge of Sainte Croix, in 1991. The Cuendet music work normally has two airs and 22 tones and is characterized by a number, here we have model 7707-18.
Additional information:
ref.1: http://www.cuckoo-horst.de/Schneider.pdf
ref.2: http://listoy.com/Cuckoo/Schneider-Clocks.htm
ref.3: http://www.clockshop.com.au/user/4419526/web/details.asp?ItemID=22062
ref.4: http://www.automates-anciens.com/english_version/main_pages/schneider_black_forest_cuckoo_clocks_3_2.php
ref.5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmHylIDDl24
ref.6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqgsTWB1EL8
About my cuckoo clock:
The clock comes in its original box (pict.s 19,20) and looks like unused. No chips, cracks, scratches, missing parts, etc. It works flawlessly and accurately when properly aligned (same time period between tic-tac and tac-tic). Click on pict.25 or go to ref.6 to see a youtube video with the cuckoo clock working.
Please
e-mail me (Kris) for any questions, ich spreche Deutsch, je parle Français.
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