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Saxon Engineering Prowess
Two outstanding entrepreneurs from Saxony share remarkable character traits

Industrial pioneers Ferdinand A. Lange and August Horch both incorporated compa-nies, albeit nearly sixty years apart. However, what the two entrepreneurs have in com-mon is so astonishing that one is tempted to assume that a “Saxon pattern” exists. The quest for continuous improvement encouraged them to do things in their own way, and in both cases, the results were stunning technical accomplishments and influential pre-mium brands.

Dresden watchmaker Ferdinand A. Lange, who was born in 1815, and mechanical engi-neer August Horch, 53 years his junior, never met. But their passions, ideals and visions were so similar they would have got along well with one another. Ferdinand A. Lange’s dream of the “world’s finest watches” is an analogy of August Horch’s principle of “build-ing cars exclusively with first-class materials”. What they also shared was the unfaltering pursuit of unprecedented technical achievements. As mechanical design innovators, they can both take credit for milestones in Saxony’s engineering heritage.

In 1845, for instance, Lange introduced the metric system to German watchmaking. And the three-quarter plate made of German silver, which he developed in 1864 to improve the stability of movements, remains one of the key hallmarks of A. Lange & Söhne watch-es to this very day. Horch provided significant impetus for the refinement of automotive engineering with inventions like the first six-cylinder engine in 1907, shifting the engine forward for better weight distribution and introducing the drive shaft to replace the cumbersome belt drive systems. Thus, both entrepreneurs can be deemed fathers of technical progress and industrial development in Saxony. Thanks to their ideas and in-novations, their influence on the companies they founded has extended far beyond their time.

Ferdinand A. Lange’s intellectual heritage lives on in A. Lange & Söhne’s current time-pieces. The tradition-steeped 1815 RATTRAPANTE PERPETUAL CALENDAR and the classic 1815 UP/DOWN are just two examples. Our photos show them with exhibits from the Au-gust Horch Museum Zwickau: with a 14/40 HP Horch four-cylinder engine, which dates back to 1919, and a 1936 Auto Union racing car Type C, one of the most successful Ger-man Grand Prix racing cars of all time. The so-called “Silver Arrow from Zwickau” set over 30 world records. The speed record of 380 kilometres per hour in an open road race still stands today and testifies to the capabilities of Saxon engineers.

About A. Lange & Söhne
When Ferdinand A. Lange, a Dresden watchmaker, established his watch manufactory in 1845, he laid the cornerstone of Saxony’s precision watchmaking. His precious pocket watches remain highly coveted among collectors all over the world. The company was expropriated after World War II, and the name A. Lange & Söhne nearly fell into oblivion. In 1990, Ferdinand A. Lange’s great-grandson Walter Lange had the courage to relaunch the brand. Today, Lange crafts only a few thousand wristwatches in gold or platinum per year. They are endowed exclusively with proprietary move-ments that are lavishly decorated and assembled by hand. In a period of little more than 20 years, A. Lange & Söhne developed over 40 manufacture calibres and secured a top-tier position among the world’s finest watch brands. Its greatest successes include innovative timekeeping instruments such as the LANGE 1 with the first outsize date in a series produced wristwatch as well as the ZEITWERK with its supremely legible, precisely jumping numerals. Mean-while, both models have become icons of a brand rich in tradition.

About the Horch Museum
August Horch Museum Zwickau gGmbH was founded on 12.12.2000 by the city of Zwickau and AUDI AG as equal shareholders. The partners acquired the museum on the premises of the former Audi plant; it had been curated by the Sachsenring company since 1988. After the extensive rehabilitation of the century-old buildings as well as the redesign and expansion of the exhibits, the museum was reopened in 2004. It portrays the history of venerable brands – Horch, Audi, DKW, Wanderer, Auto Union, Sachsenring, Trabant and VW – and is one of two museums in Germany that occu-py original buildings of an automaker. Since the venue was reopened, the number of visitors has tripled to some 75,000 persons per year. For the city of Zwickau, the museum has become a flagship tourist attraction and an important economic factor.

Original language: English