Glashütte, known as the holy land of German watchmaking, has a glorious reputation but hides a history of unimaginable hardship, including the division caused by two world wars and the Cold War. Despite suffering devastating blows multiple times and being swallowed up by the wave of nationalization, the passion for watchmaking never faded. This article traces the trajectory of prestigious brands that rose from the ashes like a phoenix. We will unravel the "unyielding journey" of Glashütte, which overcame turbulent times and rose again to become one of the world's leading watchmaking centers.
[Article published on January 9, 2026]
Rising from the ashes like a phoenix
The scars of World War I did not bring the peace and stability that everyone hoped for. On the contrary, the events led to further wars. In addition to the enormous loss of life, Germany lost its emperor and transformed into a republic. Meanwhile, Germany had to pay reparations to the Allied forces for all the damages caused by World War I, an amount set at 66 billion pounds in 1921.
The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, stipulated that Germany ceded approximately 13 percent of its territory to neighboring countries, thus limiting its ability to pay reparations. This brought prolonged hardship to watchmakers in Glashütte, and the market remained far from ideal.
In 1926, approximately 85 percent of the population was unemployed, and even worse, the great flood a year later not only claimed lives but also inflicted immense damage on most watchmakers. Just as repairs were finally completed, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 triggered the Great Depression. This put some brands in dire straits, and Union, for example, was forced to close down in 1933.
Military production under the Nazi regime and legendary aviation watches
Even the businesses that managed to survive and continue operations did not see their fortunes improve when Hitler's Nazi Party seized power in Germany and World War II began with the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. For Glashütte, this meant being forced into war production.
Ulofa Ufag developed Tutima's Fliegerchronograph with a flyback function for the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), marking the beginning of a series of watches that would play a significant role in the brand's future in the postwar era.
One of the most well-known products of that era was the so-called "B watch," officially known as the "Beobachtungs-uhr" (observation watch), or "Observation watches" in English.
As the name suggests, these watches were intended as navigation tools for German Air Force pilots. Their specifications were standardized by the Nazi Ministry of Aviation, the Imperial Air Ministry. Due to the need to read the time instantly, these watches were quite large, with a diameter of 55mm, and designed to be worn over thick flight jackets to protect the crew from the cold.
This made it possible to use large pocket watch movements protected from magnetic fields by a soft iron cover. Another requirement was a center seconds hand with a hacking function (second hand stop function). These B watches were already very accurate, but this feature allowed pilots and navigators to synchronize their watches with the German Naval Observatory's standard time before going on a mission.
A tragedy on the eve of the war: Soviet airstrikes
Although the watchmaking industry in Glashütte was kept afloat by compulsory contributions to the war effort, the watches they produced were far removed from those of the past. As the end of the war loomed, some residents may have dreamed of returning to the old days, but then this Saxon town was struck by another devastating blow.
On May 8, 1945, just hours before Nazi Germany officially surrendered, Soviet bombers targeted Glashütte, destroying the A. Lange & Söhne and Chutima factories and inflicting extensive damage on other factories in the town. This marked the beginning of the Soviet occupation of Glashütte following the end of the war.
East-West division and the establishment of the state-owned enterprise "GUB"
Some chose not to wait and see what would happen next. Among them was Dr. Ernst Kurz, chairman and managing director of Ulenfabrik Glashütte, known as Ulofa and Ufag, which led the Tutima brand to great success.
He and some of his staff were able to relocate to the area that would become West Germany after the victorious nations redraw the map. Glashütte became part of East Germany, a Soviet satellite state governed by communist doctrine. Therefore, in 1951, after the rubble of the bombing had been cleared, all the remaining watch companies were merged into one. This state-owned enterprise was called the Glashütte Watch Company (GUB) and resumed production.
The revival of Tutima in West Germany and the official NATO timepiece
The same can be said for other brands, though not from East Germany. Dr. Kurz revived Tutima in Ganderkesee, a town in Lower Saxony, West Germany. There, he continued to create watches worthy of the Glashütte name, and his legacy was passed on to Dieter Dellekate in the 1960s, and is now run by his children.
Even after leaving its homeland, Tutima achieved great success, winning a bid in 1984 to supply pilot watches to the West German Federal Armed Forces. This military chronograph Ref. 798, equipped with Lemania's Cal. 5100 movement, would later become the official timepiece of NATO forces.
The Struggle Against the East German Government: The Ordeal of the Mühle Family
Some had no choice but to try and swim against the current. When Hans Mühle, the third-generation owner of a watchmaking company in Glashütte, returned home in 1945, he learned that his grandfather's company had been seized by the Soviets.
He initially worked as a sales manager for a state-owned optical equipment company, but in December 1945 he founded his own company. This once again cemented Mühle's name on the map of Glashütte. Although he didn't make clocks, his speedometers and actuators for temperature and pressure measuring instruments were closely related to clockmaking. Later, this expanded to similar equipment for the film and photography industries.
Because the East German government disliked private companies, Mühle must have had to act like both an engineer and a politician. The fact that his company's expertise was not found anywhere else in East Germany likely played a role as well.
Hans Mühle died in 1970, and his son, Hans-Jürgen Mühle, succeeded him, but unfortunately, he was unable to prevent the company from being seized by the East German government in 1972. He had to wait until 1994 before he could rebuild his family's legacy.
The Fall of the Iron Curtain and the Road to Glory
While Glashütte watches from the era when the town was in East Germany are often looked down upon, they were among the finest produced in the Soviet Union and its satellite states. Although they lacked the refined elegance characteristic of Glashütte watches, their styling was undeniably appealing, their movements were robust, and they were worthy of being called manufactures today.
In its watchmaking tradition, which began with supplying clocks to the Royal Court of Saxony, Glashütte longed for further advancement, but had to wait until November 9, 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell during the Peaceful Revolution.
As the reunification of East and West Germany progressed, Glashütte was able to breathe freely once again, and many people had been eagerly awaiting this moment to restore the town and its traditions to their former glory.
The resurgence of A. Lange & Söhne and the birth of the new star Nomos Glashütte
Many people had been waiting for that very moment. Some acted immediately. Walter Lange, the great-grandson of Ferdinand Adolph Lange, did not waste any time and registered A. Lange & Söhne on December 7, 1990.
His vision of reviving once-famous brands for the modern era was shared by Günther Blümlein. As the head of Les Manufactures Horlogères, owned by VDO Schindling, a leading German manufacturer of speedometers and automotive instruments, Blümlein already oversaw IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre.
It took A. Lange & Söhne four years to develop its first collection, but the brand quickly reclaimed its crown and rapidly rose to become one of the most admired and highly regarded watch brands.
Another figure who burst onto this stage in the blink of an eye is Roland Schwertner. He founded Nomos Glashütte in January 1990 and released its first watch in 1991. By combining a clean design with meticulous attention to detail and a modest price point for its quality, while exclusively using mechanical movements, Nomos Glashütte quickly established itself as a popular brand among watch collectors.
Initially, the company relied on ETA for its movements, but in 2005, it unveiled its first in-house movement, ultimately ending its dependence on ETA.
Return to Home: Mühle and Chutima
Hans-Jürgen Mühle, still based in Glashütte, was able to relaunch his family business on April 1, 1994, with just two employees. Initially, the company focused on traditional marine time systems and marine chronometers, but a year later, wristwatches were added to the lineup.
Although not close to the sea, Mühle cultivated a close relationship with the ocean, making it an integral part of the brand's DNA. It took even longer for other brands to return to Glashütte. For decades, West Germany had already established its base in Tutima, but Dieter Dellekate longed to return to Glashütte, and now that was once again an option.
After several years of planning, the brand relocated on May 14, 2008, to the former maintenance depot of the old railway station in Glashütte, where it was restored and established as the brand's new manufacture.
The development of Glashütte Original and Union
The Glashütte Watch Company (GUB), a giant in the town, was privatized and acquired in 1994 by German entrepreneur Heinz W. Pfeiffer. The manufacture was renamed Glashütte Original and began producing extremely high-quality watches.
The company also manufactured watches under the Union brand name, another historical name in Glashütte. Pfeiffer sold his brand to the Swatch Group in 2000.
The protection of heritage and the future under the "Glashütte Rules"
Glashütte is like a boxer in the middle of an endless match, taking punch after punch but refusing to fall. Though still a small town in scale, its watchmaking legacy is immense. "Glashütte" is a mark of quality, a legacy now upheld by every brand operating within its boundaries.
To protect this precious heritage for the future, a set of regulations known as the "Glashütte Regulations" was implemented in 2022. These regulations, comparable to the "Swiss Made" standard, specify which watch components must be manufactured in Glashütte and which essential manufacturing processes must take place within the town.
Only after meeting these conditions can a watch bear the "Glashütte" mark. Knowing the immeasurable value of not cutting corners, many brands in this Saxony town go above and beyond the requirements.
They continue the pursuit of excellence championed by their ancestors, building further progress upon the immense sacrifices made up to this point. Without these sacrifices, Glashütte would not be the vibrant center of German watchmaking it is today, but merely a quaint, charming little town in Saxony.
In the third and final installment of "Walking Through Glashütte," we focus on all the brands that originate from this German town and examine how they contribute to the excellent reputation of "Made in Glashütte" in the world of watches. (To be continued in the final installment, Part 3)
