Complete List of German Watch Brands [German Watch Companies]

Complete List of German Watch Brands [German Watch Companies]

Switzerland is the county that is most associated with watchmaking and is known as the capital of watchmaking. But did you know that Germany also has a rather impressive watch industry? Perhaps it doesn’t come as a surprise considering the fact that Switzerland and Germany are so close to each other geographically.

Whilst all other countries have been overshadowed by Switzerland’s strong position and reputation in the watch world, the fact of the matter is that there are several other countries that also have a long history of making high-quality watches. One of those is Germany.

Germany has a long and rich history of watchmaking and is home to many watchmaking innovations as well as strong, well-known watch brands.

In recent years, German watch brands have gotten more exposure and recognition, albeit far less than their Swiss counterparts. In this post, we, therefore, thought we would compile an extensive list of German watch brands/German watch companies. But before we do that, let’s take a closer look at Germany’s history of watchmaking

History of watchmaking in Germany

Swiss watches have a strong reputation for quality and craftsmanship. But just because other countries are as well-known doesn’t mean that they make any less qualitative watches. Germany is perhaps most associated with other types of manufacturing industries such as cars, electronics, and machinery. But its manufacturing skills also extend to watchmaking. It is therefore important to highlight the fact that Germany is a country that is home to some great, high-quality watch brands that make superb watches. And overall, German watches are known to be very high-quality, in many cases on par with the Swiss.

So what is the backstory to German watchmaking? Let’s have a look.

Germany’s watchmaking history and heritage have its roots in the 18th century, specifically in the town of Pforzheim. During this time, watchmaking schools were established with the purpose of establishing a new industry in the country and region and creating new jobs. This focus led to Pforzheim slowly but surely establishing itself as a watchmaking hub and attracting many talented watchmakers to establish themselves there. Later on, the Durowe movement factory was also established in Pforzheim. This was a huge step for the German watch industry as a whole as it meant that German watch companies could now buy watch movements from Germany instead of buying them internationally, predominantly from Switzerland. Ultimately, this meant that the German watch industry became more independent.

 Thanks to many small- and big steps, the German watch industry started to flourish and build its strength.

Another town that has played a central role in German watchmaking is Glashütte. This is where one of the most famous (if not the most famous) German watch brands were established – A. Lange & Söhne. Before Ferdinand Adolph Lange established its company, the town of Glashütte was struggling. Due to failed mining operations, the town had been forgotten and neglected.

But Lange was offered financial benefits and help from the Saxon government to establish there, which made it particularly attractive for Lange. Said and done, Lange became the start of what would ultimately lead to the flourishing of Glashütte as a hub for watchmaking.

Lange’s establishment in Glashütte attracted other watchmakers, in particular, due to the watchmaking education that he offered.

But Germany’s watchmaking history has not been a straight road.

In fact, it has had to sustain huge issues that, in many cases, made it impossible to run its operations. World War II, in particular, had a huge negative effect on the watchmaking industry in Germany. Many of the watch factories were bombed and destroyed, and those who survived had less than ideal-preconditions to continue the operations, to say the least.

The end of the war also changed the watch industry at its core. Many of the companies and factories in Germany (including watch companies) were taken over and turned into government-owned and government-run organizations. Naturally, this affected the German watch companies that had survived negatively in many ways, although for some, it meant that they got the financial support they needed to continue. Most importantly, innovation and ingenuity tend to be quite restricted as a result of this type of ownership, thus negatively affecting the competitiveness of the German watch industry, even though they continued to produce timepieces.

In 1989, another important event took place in Germany’s history. This change would also greatly affect the German watch industry. When the fall of the Berlin Wall took place, many German watch brands were reborn. Either metaphorically or literally. At the same time, German watch companies that had been restricted by the way that Germany had been run also saw how the Swiss watch industry flourished, following the challenges that the quartz crisis involved.

As the German watch industry rose once again, markets and preconditions for watchmaking changed over the decades. Therefore, the German watch industry was very heavily inspired by the Swiss and what they did – both when it came to watchmaking and also in terms of marketing and communication.

What is a German watch company and watch brand?

For this article, we have listed all German watch companies. In other words, these are brands and watch companies that are based in Germany and are registered in Germany.

When talking about Swiss-made timepieces, there are strict legal requirements for what is allowed to be called ”Swiss Made”. Ultimately, this is to protect the stamp of ”Swiss Made” and the reputation of quality that it is associated with. Without strict criteria, the risk is that the reputation of Swiss Made watches would be diluted and damaged.

So what does this have to do with German watches? Well, in general, Germany doesn’t have the same issue that the Swiss have as Germany doesn’t have the same strong reputation. This means that the watches that say they are made in Germany almost always are.

One exception is of course German watch brands that use externally-sourced movements from outside the country. This is a common practice for a lot of watch brands, and the brands that want to be associated with quality always source them from Switzerland. But in this instance, the watches are normally cased and the rest of the watches are manufactured in Germany.

Another exception would also be a German watch company that doesn’t produce its own watches or have its own factory but rather outsources the manufacturing to a different country. For cheap entry-level watches, this normally means Asia.

List of German watch brands [German watch manufacturers]

A

• Archimede Watches
• A. Lange & Sohne

B

• Botta Design
• Bethge & Söhne

C

• Circula watches
• Chronoswiss

D

• Damasko
• Dekla
• D.Dornblüth & Sohn
• Daniel Malchert

E

–

F

• FineWatchesBerlin

G

• Guinand
• Glashutte Original

H

• Hanhart
• Heinrich

I

–

J

• Jochen Benzinger
• Junkers
• Junghans

K

• Kienzle Uhren

L

• Laco
• Limes

M

• Mercure
• Moritz Grossmann
• Meistersinger
• Montblanc

N

• Nienaber Uhren
• Mühle Glashütte
• Nomos Glashutte

O

–

P

P. Nitzsche

R

• Rainer Nienaber

S

• Schaumburg Watches
• Sternglas Zeitmesser
• Stowa
• Sinn Spezialuhren
• Schäuble & Söhne

T

• Temption
• Tutima Glashutte

U

• UTS München
• Union Glashütte

V

–

W

• Wempe Jewelers

Z

• Zeppelin