SPRING DRIVEN VIENNA TYPE REGULATORS

Date: 16, July 2026.

By Juliana Rozario

Often described as Vienna Regulators, these clocks are normal spring-driven regulators, and the proper term to describe them is, the spring-driven Vienna Type Regulator. but have carved themselves into a very desirable statement piece worthy of its place in any home, be it in the dining hall, the lounge or the study.

It comes in various special cases made to resemble the weight-driven Vienna Regulators of the time.

You'll discover the same-shaped cases of various designs on the famous German Clock makers of the time, namely Junghans, Kienzle, Mauthe and Gustav Becker, there were other manufacturers like Lenzkirch less popular but not in demand.

All the above manufacturers produced clocks in the very same design and mechanism of the true weight driven Vienna Regulators which they called Vienna Regulators too.

                                   Lenzkirch Clock Movement and the Porcelain Dial

Junghans and Kienzle came out with unique cases and even Finials made of Brass and Pendulums, too, to add to the elegance of these ancient classic masterpieces that kept accurate time of that era.

Like all spring-driven clocks of the time, these are normally 8-day movements. 

There are many of these clocks in the market; many are pick-and-fix pieces. You'll find many with a movement of one manufacturer and the dial of another. This was the result of pickers in Europe who picked these pieces either from the wreckage of World War I or World War II. Some finials have been changed, even on original pieces, too. 

Many of the  finials that had the Eagle, these eagles were discarded by many antique clock dealers because  after World War II, the Allied forces enacted strict denazification laws in Germany and Austria. This required the removal of the Nazi Party Eagle (Parteiadler), although this was meant for the spread Eagle with the Swastika, many dealers, not all, removed it and replaced it with other symbols. 

After World War II, the Allied forces enacted strict denazification laws in Germany and Austria. This required the removal of the Nazi Party Eagle (Parteiadler), which clutched a swastika, from buildings, uniforms, and equipment. 

However, the eagles found on 19th-century Vienna Regulators have absolutely nothing to do with the Nazi regime. They represent the Imperial Austrian Eagle or the traditional German Imperial Eagle (Reichsadler) from the 1800s. These heraldic birds were symbols of older European empires and were not targeted for destruction or removal after 1945. 

Ref:

(Authentic 19th-century Viennese and German "Alt Deutsch" (Old German) and Baroque wall clocks typically boast elaborate walnut, mahogany, or carved pediments. A crowned, spread-wing eagle crest or matching brass finials are highly sought-after. 

(These finials are still available either original old ones or those replacement parts made in Poland in the Silesia region, which was part of Germany then , and the Poles' slave labour to make these clocks}.

During the Third Reich, two highly similar eagle emblems existed simultaneously, serving different symbolic purposes. They are distinguished by the direction the eagle is looking:

• Parteiadler (Party Eagle): The eagle looks over its left shoulder. From the viewer's perspective, it is looking to the right. This signified the Nazi Party itself as an ideological institution. 
• Although the Eagles in these clocks did not represent the Republic ruled by the Nazis, the ban of their use in Germany, Austria and some other European Nations  the used clock dealers either just removed tis iconic Felial or replaced it with some other fenial.

In modern Germany and Austria, displaying the Parteiadler or its specific Nazi-era Reichsadler counterpart is strictly illegal under criminal codes banning unconstitutional organizations, except for explicit educational, historical, or artistic purposes.