At the start of the company’s 120th anniversary celebrations in 2014
Three generations of the Kachelmann family along with Bamberg’s archbishop Dr. Ludwig Schick gather in front of a masterpiece of the company’s history at the Diocesan Museum in Bamberg.
The cathedral clock of the Kaiserdom was produced in 1562 by the Bad Staffelstein clockmaker Pankraz Kümmelmann. It was completely renovated in 1909 by master metalworker Jakob Kachelmann (1868 – 1935) and his son Andreas. Since being replaced by a new Kachelmann cathedral clock in 1929, it stood in the Deutsches Museum in Munich on loan from the Cathedral chapter before being brought back to Bamberg for the exhibition celebrating 1,000 years of Bamberg Cathedral in 2012.
Artistic metalworker Jakob Kachelmann, who set himself up in business when he entered himself into the Bamberg Trade Register in 1894, became a master cathedral clockmaker, a specialist in large clocks. He also manufactured cogged wheels, gearboxes, and specialist machines, thus supporting industrialization, far beyond the boundaries of Bamberg.
Today, the fourth generation of the Kachelmann family develops, designs, and constructs special gearboxes weighing up to 20 t for all industrial applications. A party for employees and their families, a ceremony in July 2014, and the presentation of a glass gearbox will be further high points in the anniversary year of 2014.
Photo credits: Ronald Rinkleff
