There are three types of factory clocks on display at the House of Countess Panina: they differ in size and construction, but all belong to the same class. This kind of clock was intended for factories and plants. It was usually installed at the entrance and was used as a register, which allowed workers to mark the time of their arrival at work. The clock printed the date and time on a worker’s card. For this to happen, a person had to put the card into a narrow slot and press a lever on the front panel. With this clock, the date and time were stamped with textured numbers and letters on a worker’s card.

This piece is the biggest one in the exhibition. It was made by a German company Fried Ernst Benzing. The timekeeping device was patented by the head of the company, Friedrich Ernst Benzing, on June 21, 1929. This invention was very timely: at that time Germany, defeated in World War I, finally reached its pre-war production level. The economy was growing, which required a large number of workers.

The history of the Benzing company dates back many years. Its founder, Friedrich Benzing, was an independent clockmaker who did not want to become an employee of an existing workshop, so he started his own business. He lived in the south of Germany and had been making decorative clocks since 1863, and his whole family helped him with the production as well.

Benzing’s son, also named Friedrich, was born in 1874. In 1902, he took over the management of his father’s company and greatly expanded the assortment of clocks. It was he who invented the model equipped with a register.

Friedrich Ernst Jakob, the grandson of the company’s founder, was also a prominent figure in the dynasty. In the early 20th century, he took a liking to pigeon racing and created a special clock that counts down the time of departure and arrival of birds during competitions. To this day, the device is still in demand among fans of pigeon racing.