Pregledni rad
https://doi.org/10.17018/portal.2025.22
Clocks of Zagreb Cathedral: Historical Overview and Condition after the 2020 Earthquakes
Valentina Radoš Bonić
orcid.org/0009-0000-9805-2041
; Muzej Turopolja, Velika Gorica
Sažetak
The focus of this paper is on a historical overview of the public clocks of the Zagreb cathedral and the condition of the existing mechanism, made by Emil Schauer following the earthquakes that struck Zagreb and the surrounding area on 22 March 2020, as well as the earthquake that hit Petrinja and the surrounding area on 29 December 2020.
Ivan Krstitelj Tkalčić first mentions the year 1503, noting that Zagreb Cathedral likely had a sundial at that time, with the clock face and gnomon painted by the artist Hans (Ivan) of Germany. The earliest archival record dates back to 1674, and it relates to the construction of a clock mechanism for the cathedral’s bell tower and a contract made by Bishop Martin Borković with clockmaker Petar Plocer of Ptuj. That same clock was repaired in 1690 by Zagreb clockmaker Janko Beletić.
In 1868, the archive mentions the names of Tyrolean clockmaker Wendelin Jäger and his assistant Alois Duretz. They were responsible for repairing and adjusting the existing clock; and, considering the impressive payments made to the craftsmen, it is concluded that the scope of the work was exceptionally large, almost akin to creating a new mechanism. This clock likely suffered significant damage during the 1880 earthquake.
Since 1900, the southern bell tower of the cathedral has housed a clock mechanism made by the clockmaking workshop of Emil Schauer of Vienna. It was once paired with clock faces made by the tinsmithing workshop of Aleksandar Maruzzi; and, in 1997, the faces were made by a foundry in Markuševec: Ljevaonica obojenih metala Kranjčević.
The clock was mechanically powered until 2008, and since then it has no longer been in active operation, because it is powered by electric motors. Following the 2020 earthquakes, the clock mechanism remains in its original location – in the gallery of the southern bell tower of the cathedral – and there are no plans for its relocation.
The clock faces and hands of the northern bell tower are not functioning, and their dismantling is not currently planned. The clock faces and hands of the southern bell tower were dismantled even before the earthquakes, during work conducted between the second and third galleries, and are now stored on a shelf on the northern side of the cathedral’s roof.
The horological heritage of Croatia, and specifically Zagreb, remains an insufficiently researched topic. The aim of this paper is to draw attention to the public clocks that, along with their dials and bells, have been parts of the bell-tower equipment for centuries.
Ključne riječi
public clocks; bell towers; clockmakers; Zagreb cathedral; earthquake
Hrčak ID:
342764
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.12.2025.
Posjeta: 328 *