The Saga of the Hainz Family
The exhibition tells the story of the Hainz company, which is not merely a business journey from its artisanal beginnings to modern industrial clock production, but also reflects the transformations and dramatic upheavals of Czech society. It also highlights the company’s work in maintaining significant historic clock mechanisms, including the Prague Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square, which it has been responsible for keeping in working order since the 19th century.
The exhibition was created to mark the 190th anniversary of the founding of Hainz, the oldest Czech clockmaking company. In the first half of the 20th century, Hainz was one of the most prominent companies in the Czechoslovak clockmaking industry. Its product range included personal timepieces, tower clocks and modern industrial timekeeping systems. The company also traditionally maintained the Prague Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square.
This promising development was abruptly interrupted by the communist takeover, after which the company was nationalised and the assets built up over generations were taken away from the family. After 1989, the founders’ descendants succeeded in reviving the company, continuing the family tradition and carrying on the legacy of their ancestors. Today, the Hainz brand represents a unique combination of traditional craftsmanship, technical innovation and entrepreneurial perseverance.
“The exhibition features artefacts from the early days of industrial clockmaking, examples of the early introduction of standardised time systems, time-recording clocks, and a wide range of tower clocks, including the original mechanism from the Industrial Palace. It also presents the company’s contemporary limited-edition wristwatch collection under the Hainz brand. For the exhibition, the company Cesnet created a 3D virtual model of the Prague Astronomical Clock,” said David Hamr, exhibition author and curator at the National Technical Museum.
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