n April 14, 1861, alongside his brother-in-law Jakob Zeller-Tobler, Erhard Junghans founded Zeller & Junghans in Schramberg, deep in Germany’s “other” watchmaking region (along with Glashütte). Initially, the company supplied components for Black Forest clocks.

It made its first complete clock in 1866 and was already clear as to the direction it planned to take, as Junghans CEO Hannes Steim explains: “Junghans’ intention was always to industrialise watchmaking, to make it more efficient, and for that reason production was on-site. Erhard’s sons, Erhard II and Arthur, shared their father’s vision and objectives. When the business was handed over to them in 1870, they set about mechanising production.”

Erhard Junghans, founder of Zeller & Junghans in Schramberg in 1861

The largest clock manufacturer in the world

By 1903 Junghans had grown into the largest clock manufacturer in the world, employing three thousand people and producing three million clocks a year. The two brothers had ambitions that went beyond Germany. Junghans clocks were shown at the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris; the company built factories and opened subsidiaries in Schramberg, Rottenburg and Schwenningen, as well as in Ebensee in Austria, Venice and Paris.

Junghans’ landmark “terrace building” illustrates a timeline of Black Forest clockmaking, published in 1953 in Europa Star.

©Archives Europa Star

Opened in 1918, the Terrassenbau, designed by industrial architect Philipp Jakob Manz, was completed in less than two years.

The First World War brought opportunities for further industrialisation and development, for Junghans and for many others in Europe (read our article here). “During the war, Junghans made explosive detonators which led it to significantly expand its industrial dimension,” Hannes Steim continues. “This is when the famous Terrassenbau, designed by the industrial architect Philipp Jakob Manz, was built, in under two years. Its nine levels, set into the hillside, provide each workstation with maximum daylight, which is essential for precision work. It’s an excellent illustration of Junghans’ core philosophy.”

Meister and mechanical movements

The company launched pocket watch production in the 1910s, followed by its first wristwatch in 1926. Hannes Steim describes this crucial period: “The company still belonged to the Junghans family, after Arthur’s son Erwin took up the mantle, following his father’s death in 1920. The flagship Meister line was introduced in 1936. Junghans was making its own calibres and the premium movements, the J80/2 family, equipped Meister watches.”

The Meister Chronoscope is the latest addition to Junghans’ flagship line

With the Second World War over, in 1946 Junghans began work on its first chronograph: “After three years of development, the manual-winding J88 movement was revealed. It had 19 jewels, a ratchet and a complex Breguet spring. This robust movement would go on to equip many Junghans chronographs.”

©Archives Europa Star

A 1955 chronograph fitted with the in-house J88 movement, developed for the German armed forces

The company continued its pursuit of precision. In 1951 Junghans was Germany’s biggest chronometer-maker. By 1956 it was the third-largest in the world, behind Rolex and Omega. Another milestone would be the collaboration with Bauhaus-trained, Swiss architect, artist and designer Max Bill. The kitchen clock he imagined for the company in the 1950s became an icon of modern design; the wristwatch he designed in 1961 is still a best-seller.

Max Bill’s famous kitchen clock

©Archives Europa Star

The Bauhaus-inspired Max Bill regulator dates back to 1961 and is part of the brand’s permanent collection

In 1961, exactly a century after it was founded, Junghans’ workforce had grown to six thousand and twenty thousand Junghans watches rolled off the production lines each day.

A Junghans ad (Europa Star, 1952)

©Archives Europa Star

Junghans’ 100th anniversary in 1961, as featured in Europa Star

©Archives Europa Star

Quartz: a revolution, not a crisis

For a traditional watch brand, any mention of “quartz” is almost always followed by “crisis”. Not Junghans. A focus on innovation and precision led the company to develop its own quartz movement in the early 1970s. As the official timekeeper of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, it measured the world’s fastest athletes with one-hundredth-of-a-second accuracy.

“Junghans focused all its resources on this new quartz technology and ceased production of mechanical movements,” Hannes Steim continues. “In 1971 we launched the Astro-Quartz watch, writing a new chapter in Junghans’ history. Early on, we developed our own solar-powered quartz technology. Quartz was a revolution, not a crisis.”

The Mega-1 was the first radio-controlled wristwatch, launched in 1990. A solar-powered version followed in 1993.

A series of firsts began in 1985 with the launch of the world’s first radio-controlled table clock, with potential accuracy of one second in a million years. A year later, Junghans brought out the first solar-powered, radio-controlled table clock. The first radio-controlled wristwatch, the Mega 1, followed in 1990 then, in 1993, the first solar-powered, radio-controlled wristwatch.

These were innovative developments but, as Hannes Steim explains, they were limited by reception range: “It took eleven years to develop and launch our multi-frequency, radio-controlled movement. Junghans invented a watch that receives and automatically converts a time signal in Germany and Europe, but also Asia and North America.”

From one family to another

The Junghans family remained at the head of the firm until 1956, when the Diehl group took a majority stake. The group made substantial investments in the company until 2000, when it separated its microtechnology and watchmaking businesses.

“The watchmaking division, which included Junghans, was sold to Egana Goldpfeil Holdings Ltd. which had plans to build a luxury group... but lacked a clear vision,” Steim says. “In 2008 it filed for insolvency for all its companies, Junghans among them. The mayor of Schramberg got in touch with my father, who was an honorary citizen of the town, to ask if he could invest in the firm. We took over in 2009.”

Hannes Steim, whose family took over Junghans in 2009, has been CEO since June 2022.

Hannes Steim’s family were no strangers to watchmaking. The company they own, Kern-Liebers, had previously supplied the watch industry, and one of Hannes’ great-great-grandfathers had been a spring-maker in Schramberg in 1888. “It was an emotional moment when we took over Junghans, at the height of the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, as well as big news for the town. The wave of media coverage helped us put the brand back in the spotlight. Our 150th anniversary in 2011 was an opportunity to present new models and talk about the brand’s rich history.”

The new owner’s development strategy was to strengthen the brand in its main market, Germany, as well as two other key markets, Austria and Japan. “We focused on improving quality and precision, and developing our four main lines, which are Meister, Form, Sports and Max Bill. Our radio-controlled movements are all manufactured by Junghans. Mechanical movements come from Switzerland and quartz calibres are either Japanese or Swiss. We’re extremely proud to say that Junghans is still a German family-owned company.”

Three technologies

Asked how Junghans is different from other brands, Hannes Steim is quick to answer: “Junghans is a leading name and the oldest German watch company with an uninterrupted history. Our designs are unique and we are the only watch brand in Europe to propose all three technologies: quartz, mechanical and radio-controlled.”

Sales are currently in the region of forty thousand watches a year. The brand’s home market of Germany still accounts for the largest share, with Japan also strong. The European market is growing, says Hannes Steim, adding that “we’re now concentrating on the United States and Asia. We set up Junghans US in 2024 to work closely with our new overseas partners.”

As well as quartz and mechanical, Junghans invested early on in radio-controlled technology, as told in this 1994 article in Europa Star.

©Archives Europa Star

Who are Junghans’ customers? “We sell mainly to men aged 40 and above, but we aim to engage Gen Z with products that have no particular gender, in sizes ranging from 36mm to 45mm. We’ll soon be releasing new, colourful dials and next year will see the launch of a more feminine sports watch collection.”

How might the brand grow in an uncertain economic and geopolitical climate? “People are more cautious about spending,” Steim agrees, “but we have a lot of markets still to develop. Markets such as China, Asia-Pacific and Indonesia. We see a great deal of potential.”

Junghans makes its radio-controlled movements; why not reconnect with its industrial past and produce its own mechanical movements? “It takes major investments to develop and manufacture mechanical movements in-house, probably at least ten million euros, which would trigger a substantial price increase. While this is clearly a long-term objective, right now we need to concentrate on investments that are already in place. The most important thing for us is that every Junghans timepiece should continue to be made here, in Schramberg, as they have been since 1861.”