Tower clock from the Holy Trinity Church in Gdańsk

About the sound

The sound of the tower clock from the Holy Trinity Church in Gdańsk. The recording was realized in the Tower Clock Museum, branch of Gdańsk History Museum (Poland).
The clock was manufactured in 1702 by Johann Anthony Horn, clockmaker from Gdańsk. The clock consists of three sections. The first is constituted by the rate mechanism with pendulum and anchor escapement, the second by the quarter striking mechanism and the third by the hour striking mechanism (both mechanisms function in the ratchet system). The clock used to power four square clock faces on the church tower. Unfortunately, they were burnt during WW2. The clock needs to be wound once a day.
Before the popularization of house clocks and pocket clocks, tower clocks were used to indicate the time in the town. Many of them were equipped with the hour striking mechanism thanks to which it was possible to find out what the current time was also from a distance.

Sound recordist: Monika Widzicka
Photographer: Piotr Leszczyński
Video recordist: Piotr Leszczyński