he town of Glashütte has a particular resonance for the German watch industry and Lange is prominent within this history as it is here, on December 7, 1845, that Ferdinand Adolph Lange established his watch manufactory.

Incumbent CEO Wilhelm Schmid explains how Lange “started out as a manufacturer of pocket watches as well as a school, the”Centre for German Precision Watchmaking“. In 1868 Ferdinand’s son Richard joined the company, which became A. Lange & Söhne. Three years later, in 1871, he was followed by a second son, Emil.”

The only known photograph of Ferdinand Adolph Lange

The company flourished thanks to a judicious mix of in-house production and elements brought in from third parties, alongside the continuity that came with family ownership. Soon, Lange’s good name had spread beyond national borders. When Ferdinand Adolph Lange died in 1875, the business passed naturally to his sons.

Close-up of the Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar in rose gold with a grained grey dial. Hands, indices and the double window for the outside date are also in rose gold.

The company would remain in family hands and continue to prosper until the end of the Second World War when, on the final day of fighting, the factory was destroyed in a bombing raid. After Germany was divided into East and West, every one of Glashütte’s watchmakers, from the most humble to the most prestigious, was expropriated and, under the newly formed communist German Democratic Republic, merged in 1951 into a conglomerate: the Glashütter Uhrenbetrieb (GUB).

Portrait of Wilhelm Schmid, CEO of A. Lange & Söhne since 2011

“In a way, we’re glad our name isn’t associated with any of the watches from that period,” says Wilhelm Schmid. “Thus ended the first incarnation of A. Lange & Söhne.”

Close-up of the movement in the Lange 1 Time Zone showing the characteristic swan-neck fine adjustment and the hand-engraved balance cock

A third generation and a new lease on life

The German company embarked on its second life following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and German reunification a year later. Walter Lange, a grandson of Ferdinand Adolph Lange who had fled to the West, returned to Glashütte.

Günter Blümlein and Walter Lange at the F. Adolph Lange memorial in Glashütte in 1991

IWC’s head of marketing Hannes Pantli arranged for Walter Lange to meet the visionary businessman Günter Blümlein, director of Les Manufactures Horlogères (LMH, comprising IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre).

The return of A. Lange & Söhne following German reunification, described in this article published by Europa Star exactly thirty years ago, in 1994

©Archives Europa Star

“Together they engineered the revival of A. Lange & Söhne,” says Wilhelm Schmid. “That they incorporated the company on December 7, 1990 – the same day it was established by Ferdinand Adolph Lange in 1845 - is a perfect example of their concern for detail, which is still at the heart of the manufacture today. In 1994 A. Lange & Söhne was reborn with four models: the Lange 1, the Saxonia, the Arkade and the Tourbillon Pour le Mérite. The Arkade, a rectangular watch, was designed as proof that we made our own movements and was discontinued a long time ago. The other three models are still in our collections.”

The A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Time Zone in platinum, released in 2023, reference 136.025

How did the German firm succeed in rebuilding a full-fledged manufacture in record time? “IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre played a decisive role in this revival,” the CEO answers. “It was a time when we could count on strong support and collaboration. Without Günter Blümlein’s vision and contribution, it would have been much harder.”

In 1999 the Mannesmann group, whose portfolio included LMH, was taken over by the British telecoms group Vodafone, which a year later sold LMH to Richemont. Thus A. Lange & Söhne became part of the luxury conglomerate, preserving its distinctive identity within a group of predominantly Swiss and French brands.

The A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar 345.033 in 18k rose gold with the ingenious peripheral month ring. Solid silver grey dial

Nurturing the Glashütte spirit

This patient reconstruction of a form of high-end watch manufacturing that is unique to Lange and to Glashütte, with its clearly recognisable attributes, has been crowned with success, exactly 30 years after the first watches announcing the return of this great name. “Our best-selling model is still the Lange 1, which speaks volumes about how well recognised the brand is,” Wilhelm Schmid comments. “We produce in the region of 5,000 watches a year and plan to stay at this level. We have reduced distribution to 58 points of sale which includes 34 A. Lange & Söhne boutiques [compared with 220 points of sale in 2017]. We hand-pick partners who understand the brand and are able to relay our message in the most suitable way.”

The A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar 345.036 in platinum with solid silver black dial, released in 2023

According to Schmid, the brand’s collectors identify as much with the “design, legibility and quiet luxury that emanates from our watches” as with “the opulence of our movements, our expertise and our finishing.” A kind of well-kept secret; an exuberant treasure hidden beneath an understated, distinctly recognisable, unmistakably German facade. Beauty from within.

“Our customers are familiar with the brand’s great history and tradition,” continues Schmid, who has been at the helm for over a decade. “They also appreciate our ’never stand still’ ethos.”

Where does he intend to take the brand? “Our principal mission is to safeguard our legacy, the way we make our watches. We have a very specific distribution strategy. We are a rarefied brand and we want to cultivate this and share it with our customers in our boutiques. We aim to immerse them in the Glashütte spirit and to convey our values and rich history. As the average Lange watch becomes more complex, the number of hours we devote to each one increases, not total production.”

This long-term vision implies that there is a new generation, ready to take up the mantle: “Just a couple of days ago we welcomed eight young men and women who had completed their apprenticeship and were starting a new role as watchmakers with the company. They were between 18 and 21 years old. It’s our job and our duty to ensure that we pass on these professional skills and that we stay relevant. We don’t take shortcuts. A brand is also defined by what it doesn’t do under pressure, whether that pressure results from an increase in demand or a fall in demand.” Perhaps more than any of its compatriots, A. Lange & Söhne is representative of the tide of history, of an industry shackled and destroyed, only to rise from its ashes stronger than ever before. A lesson in resilience.