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Lucas Rupprecht, product design student:
»I can't even hear the ticking anymore.
But I notice it immediately when a clock that should be ticking doesn't, i.e. when it has stopped.
Because then I have a problem.
Then I have to go there again.«
His orchestra beats every second.
He knows his instruments well.
The processes: well-established.
Restoring antique clocks is Lucas Rupprecht's passion.
Only a few people in Germany have mastered the traditional craft as well as the 24-year-old from Bremen.
Rupprecht studies product design in Hanover.
But for years he has been spending his vacations in the Upper Black Forest, a cradle of the German watchmaking tradition.
Lucas Rupprecht can live out his hobby to the full here: in the Hotel »Bad« in Eisenbach, dozens of cuckoo clocks are waiting to be restored by him.
Hotel operator Hubert Wursthorn himself comes from a watchmaking dynasty, collects antique clocks and organizes a watch fair every year.
Lucas Rupprecht is a regular here and is now almost part of the family.
Hubert Wursthorn, Bogensporthotel Bad:
»He is not a normal person.
It's a phenomenon.
For me he is a phenomenon.
We have thousands of watchmakers, but none as knowledgeable as he is.
He keeps this tradition in the Black Forest.
Many others say: That's no longer possible, then we'll throw it away.
Lucas says: No, don't throw it away, I'll do it for you and then it'll be fine."
Lucas Rupprecht, product design student:
'Here's the clockwork of this cuckoo clock here with a very nice neo-Gothic shield. 1860/1870 by Johann Baptist Beha, the well-known watchmaker from Eisenbach. And unfortunately it doesn't work. That means a complete overhaul is unavoidable.«
He has already worked on more than 100 watches, says Rupprecht.
He got his technical skills and interest from his parents: his mother is a technician and his father is an engineer.
Most watchmakers specialize in wristwatches.
However, Lucas Rupprecht's passion is for clocks.
Lucas Rupprecht, product design student:
“A wristwatch doesn’t change anything in the room, but a running clock, for example a wall clock, changes the entire room climate in a positive way, I think.
It brings a calm, a serenity, so to speak, into the room.
A downright rustic feeling – no pun intended.
And what I find particularly funny about the cuckoo clock is that it actually has a rather tragic history, namely from the respected type of clock to the tourist junk.
It almost makes me sad.«
About 100 years ago, a good two-thirds of all large clocks produced worldwide came from the Black Forest.
Series production was used early on.
As a result, the Black Forest clocks were relatively cheap and internationally known.
Its landmark even then: the cuckoo clock.
Today, plastic watches with electric movements are also sold at the tourist hotspots in the Black Forest.
That's nothing for Rupprecht: no craftsmanship, no quality.
But what's new doesn't have to be bad, says Rupprecht: he describes himself as a fan of modern technology.
Lucas Rupprecht, product design student:
»I use the best computer programs during my studies, i.e. 3D construction, rendering programs, drawing programs.
These are great opportunities that are on offer to us.
But you shouldn't lose sight of what can be achieved without them.«
Lucas Rupprecht bought his first watch at the flea market when he was nine.
At home he disassembled them – and put them back together again.
But he didn't want to train as a watchmaker - the hobby should remain a hobby.
Instead, he taught himself how to restore and looked over the shoulders of other watchmakers.
He came to Eisenbach for the first time at the age of 15 – for Hubert Wursthorn's watch exchange.
Hubert Wursthorn, innkeeper:
»There's a young guy running around.
I remember it very well: back then he had a kind of small doctor's bag, an aluminum doctor's bag.
Everyone just grinned and whoops, what is he doing there?
In the little suitcase there were his flashlight, his magnifying glass, his little screwdrivers, his tweezers and so on, where he could then open it and look: What is that?
Is it interesting?
Is it original?
He then also got to know the Black Forest clocks better at our trade fair upstairs and all the things that are there.
He felt like he was in paradise.«
Lucas Rupprecht, hobby restorer:
»This is my vacation, I'm not going anywhere else.
Well, I couldn't just sit in front of the telly for a day or on the sofa and do nothing.
I'm just not."
If Rupprecht doesn't have a watch in his hand, then he's happy to use a bow and arrow.
He goes to the hotel's archery range with the innkeeper's son.
Not only normal targets are shot here, but also life-size rubber animals.
Family tradition - just like the love for Black Forest clocks.
Lucas Rupprecht, hobby restorer:
“The clocks, that's for sure, will outlive us all.
All trends are cyclical and I am firmly convinced that watches will still experience their renaissance.
That there will be an increasing interest again and that people will fight for watches like they did decades ago.«
In the evening, Rupprecht's day's work is done: the clock is ticking and the cuckoo is calling again.
Now the antique piece has to be tested for a few more days to see if it works properly.
Lucas Rupprecht, hobby restorer:
»Of course, this hobby offers enormous fulfillment.
And which I think few others can match.
It's nice to know that you were able to preserve a piece of cultural heritage or help to preserve it.«
The culture of the Black Forest clock lives on.
Also thanks to Lucas Rupprecht.
But his work in Eisenbach is not over yet: the next clocks are already waiting for him.
Lucas Rupprecht, hobby restorer:
»But I am already very satisfied with the first result of the test.
Everything else only time can tell.«
