# The origin of Meister Anker and other brands of travel clocks



## ruchasy (Dec 13, 2015)

Hello !


I have seen on the Internet travel clocks with Meister Anker brand. Who manufactured them ? I know this was a brand for a German company Quelle. But on some pages it says they were made in the East Germany for the West Germany and the movements were either Ruhla or GUB Glashutte when Glashutte was in the former East Germany.

So what do you think ? Which is their manufacturer ? 


Also I have seen other manufactuers like UWESTRA, Melux or SOLO. Who are their manufacturers ?


----------



## StufflerMike (Mar 23, 2010)

GUB Glashütte did not produce clock movements. What you read is only valid for wristwatches though. 

Until approx. 1987 various mechanical wristwatches from the production VEB / GUB Glashütte and Ruhla were sold in large numbers through the general agency of the GDR watch industry, the company Manfred Raisch in Pforzheim. These watches were not only sold under the house brand MEISTERANKER, but also under "fantasy brands" such as GENEVE or CLIPPER, these watches were offered in almost every department store. The mechanical caliber 09-20 from Glashütte, a movement that was built over 3.3 million times, and the quartz caliber from Ruhla were particularly popular.

Almost all MEISTERANKER alarm clocks before 1985 were made in Ruhla and by Ruhla (VEB Uhrenwerk Ruhla im Uhrenkombinat Ruhla). 

UWESTRA = Uhrenwerke Schwarzwald
SOLO = most likely Uhrenfabrik Solo GmbH in Baden-Baden, they existed for only two years (1958 - 1960) and produced alarm clocks.
MELUX: Made in Western Germany, that‘s all I know.


----------



## ruchasy (Dec 13, 2015)

And there is also a brand that made travel clocks and just now I reminded about it, it is LOWENTHAL with umlaut above the O letter. What do you know about it ? All what I found was they were Swiss.

What happened to MEISTERANKER after 1985 ? Because you say that": "Almost all MEISTERANKER alarm clocks before 1985 werde made in Ruhla and by Ruhla (VEB Uhrenwerk Ruhla im Uhrenkombinat Ruhla)". Did Ruhla Factory became affected after the communism fell in Eastern Europe ?


----------



## StufflerMike (Mar 23, 2010)

The fall of the Mauer happened four years later (1989) so declining orders of Ruhla clocks from Western Germany mailorder companies after 1985 are not the result of the fall of communism. Chinese clocks were cheaper. Simple as that, an economic decision.


----------

