‘Climb Every Mountain’ Clock

Kroeger Clock no. 3318, 1898 (MC0020)

The ‘golden age’ of Kroeger Clockmakers manufacture ended ca. 1910. It was at this time that brothers David Kroeger (1860–1920) and Johann Kroeger (1863–ca. 1940) decided to split up D. Kroeger Clock and Motor Works. Johann took over the clockmaking part of the business and moved it to Dnieper Strasse in Rosenthal in 1913. He had to close his factory in the 1920s because of Soviet policies, and moved his business into his home. Johann Kroeger made the last Kroeger clocks in 1929 as gifts for his children. The manufacture of Kroeger clocks had made a full circle, from a cottage industry employing the family to a factory employing many workers, and back to a single clockmaker.

History

Johann J. (1877–1935) and Anna (Funk) Wieler (1878–1967) received this clock as a wedding gift upon their marriage in 1898.

Johann was a teacher, and thus had to take positions wherever available. This meant that the family moved frequently among Mennonite settlements in Russia (now Ukraine). According to a daughter, Anna Wieler would say it wasn't home until the curtains were up and the clock was hung.

The Wielers came to Canada in 1928. Anna brought the clock with her when she went to live with her youngest daughter after her husband's death in 1935. This daughter had a party to celebrate the clock’s 100th birthday in 1998.

• Description Thirty-hour wall clock with pendulum and weight-driven movement, made by Kroeger Clockmakers in Rosenthal, Russian Empire (now Ukraine), in 1898, serial number 3318. Arched dial with a raised chapter ring is grey with a single black border around the perimeter. Arch has a circular decal of a man hiking towards a cottage in the mountains. Spandrels are gold scroll decals. White chapter ring with black Roman numerals. Two hands; bell function; chain drive; four weights.

• Mennonite Clock Number MC0020

• Object Name Kroeger Clock

• Serial Number 3318

• Date Created 1898

• Maker Kroeger Clockmakers

• Location Made Rosenthal, Chortitza Colony, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)

• Other Markings No. 3318 (stamped on lower front frame); 28 (stamped at the top right of the rear frame); 28 (stamped at the top left of the rear frame); 3277 (stamped on the back of pendulum); Made by David Kroeger of Rosenthal in 1898 (written by Arthur Kroeger on the back of the dial)

• Movement Type Brass frame

• Functions Bell

• Owner Private Owner

• Publications Arthur Kroeger, Kroeger Clocks (Steinbach, MB: Mennonite Heritage Village, 2012), pp. 148–149.