Factory museum of Uhrenwerke Ruhla with more than 1,300 clocks and watches, machines and automatic devices on the history of Ruhla's watchmaking industry since 1862.
Special exhibition
Exhibition on timekeeping, curated by two professors from the Duale Hochschule Gera-Eisenach, featuring the GDR's secret atomic clock and industrial photographs. On view since December 2023; no end date is given.
From 1862 onward, Ruhla developed into a major center of clock and watch manufacturing. At their peak, the factories employed up to 8,000 people, who produced millions of timepieces and movements – from alarm clocks and wristwatches to chess clocks and chronometers.
The museum was set up in 2002 as a company and technology museum by Gardé Uhren und Feinmechanik Ruhla GmbH, a successor to the Ruhla watch factory, and reopened in October 2006 after an expansion. It is located on the first floor of a six-story brick building from 1929, the last surviving building of the once extensive factory complex, where watches are still assembled today. After the previous operator went bankrupt, the POINTtec group from Ismaning took over the factory and museum in 2019 and continues to run them as Uhrenwerke Ruhla.
On display are more than 1,300 clocks and watches made in Ruhla, 35 machines and automatic devices, and around 50 information panels on the technology and production history. Since December 2023, the exhibition "Uhren messen die Zeit" (Clocks Measure Time) on the third floor, curated by two professors from the Duale Hochschule Gera-Eisenach, has added to the museum's offering. A factory outlet selling watches of the brands made here is attached.
| Adults | €5 |
|---|---|
| Children & teens | –Reduced admission for children accompanied by their parents (amount not stated). |
Admission covers the clock museum and the special exhibition. Admission is free if you buy a watch in the museum shop.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Factory outlet and service center of Uhrenwerke Ruhla (brands Ruhla, Zeppelin, Bauhaus, Iron Annie).
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
| Guided tours | yes |
|---|---|
| Good to know | Guided tours can be booked free of charge through the museum. The special exhibition is on the third floor. |
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