Vienna Regulator Tutorial

These clocks reflect predominantly the styles popular after 1830. Dr. Philip J. Rasch, in an article in the June, 1999 NAWCC Bulletin, presented an authoritative review of the evolution of the case styles of the Vienna Regulator. Dr. Rasch has graciously consented to my using copies of his representations of the various styles. The following summarizes the styles of clocks included in this catalog.

Empire and Biedermeier Periods <br />
1800 to 1848 <br />
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The clocks made before 1850 tended to be simpler than the clocks produced later. The lines of the clocks were finer, casework was narrower, and in general the clocks were more rectilinear than the later, often very ornate styles. <br />
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The earliest Vienna Regulators were literally three boxes stacked on each othera large square on a narrower rectangle, on a larger square. These are the Laterndluhr clocks from the Empire period. The shape of the Laterndluhr was simplified in the Biedermeier period such that the clock resembled more of a square stacked on a rectangle. Later still, from about the middle of the Biedermeier to the end of the period, the clocks gained a bit of ornament on the top, and lost the division between the top square and the bottom rectangle. <br />
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Biedermeier-period clocks make up for their simple cases with the engine turned (early) or piecrust bezels that typically adorned the clocks. Other Biedermeier characteristics include pendulum bobs that are brass on both sides (later ones are zinc on the back), pendulum rods made of steel (earlier) or wood (post perhaps 1835), wooden seat boards that slide into wooden supports (called corbels) mounted to the backboard or four-post/keyhole mechanism mounts, very simple hands, and one (earlier) or later, two piece dials.

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Empire and Biedermeier Periods
1800 to 1848

The clocks made before 1850 tended to be simpler than the clocks produced later. The lines of the clocks were finer, casework was narrower, and in general the clocks were more rectilinear than the later, often very ornate styles.

The earliest Vienna Regulators were literally three boxes stacked on each othera large square on a narrower rectangle, on a larger square. These are the Laterndluhr clocks from the Empire period. The shape of the Laterndluhr was simplified in the Biedermeier period such that the clock resembled more of a square stacked on a rectangle. Later still, from about the middle of the Biedermeier to the end of the period, the clocks gained a bit of ornament on the top, and lost the division between the top square and the bottom rectangle.

Biedermeier-period clocks make up for their simple cases with the engine turned (early) or piecrust bezels that typically adorned the clocks. Other Biedermeier characteristics include pendulum bobs that are brass on both sides (later ones are zinc on the back), pendulum rods made of steel (earlier) or wood (post perhaps 1835), wooden seat boards that slide into wooden supports (called corbels) mounted to the backboard or four-post/keyhole mechanism mounts, very simple hands, and one (earlier) or later, two piece dials.

tutorials empire biedermeier