Empress Gadget (Samsung's Reconstruction)
Good Friday, Habra!
On the last pre-holiday day, I would like to give you some entertaining-informative post, in order not to overload the brain that’s already set for the weekend. Therefore, the topic devoted to the restoration of the X-Rings-Kinzing's old-time musical clock came in very handy, in which Samsung Electronics took an active part in the long-term process. For nearly 10 years, the restorer, O. Z. Zinatullin, painstakingly restored the case, dial, as well as the clock and musical mechanisms, with the result that this rare and unique jukebox began to sound again for the first time since the beginning of the 20th century.
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So, friends, sit back: you will find a story about how it was.
Meet - David Abrahamovich Roentgen (1743-1807), a master furniture maker and owner of a furniture workshop in the small German town of Neuwied, played an important role in the development of Russian furniture business of the classical era. At the end of the 18th century, many German craftsmen, especially furniture makers, watchmakers, bronze craftsmen and lustrovshchiki moved to Russia, closer to St. Petersburg construction sites, where they had the opportunity to start their own business and promote it much faster and more successfully than in their homeland. X-ray first came to Russia in 1784, where he immediately enlisted the support of Catherine II and, over the next 7 years, actively supplied his refined and technically heaped furniture to the empress's court.
During his first visit, David Roentgen brought to St. Petersburg a batch of furniture in which there were writing desk-chairs, “on which you can sit and stand,” toilet and drawing tables, as well as dressers, harpsichords, and spinning chairs (great-great-grandparents of our office hours) and the floor clock ... yes, that clock, about which, in fact, is the story.
The clock was equipped with a musical mechanism, including organ and cymbals, playing synchronously. The interchangeable musical drum recorded five melodies of the famous Austrian composer of the time, Christoph Gluck. Melodies can be played automatically, once per hour or three hours, and they are started / switched manually. The joy of the Empress knew no bounds; "The first furniture maker and mechanic of the century" - it was such an unspoken title that X-Ray received as a reward for his work. In addition to him, watchmaker Peter Kinzing, organ master Johann Weil and the bronze painter Francois Remon worked on the creation of a unique piece of interior. These are the largest watches in size that came out of the Roentgen – Kinzing workshop and the most unusual in sound. To date, about ten copies of this watch model have been preserved in the world.
By the way, a curious retreat. As you know, the music clock in those days was, in fact, the first gadgets: the customer could choose the melodies in the same way as today we select ringtones for our mobile phones. It has not been documented, but Valentin Molotkov, a researcher at the Hermitage laboratory for the restoration of watches and mechanisms, did not deny that Empress Catherine II could easily choose melodies that she later downloaded into the clock.
And so, in April, the musical clock included in the Hermitage’s permanent exhibition was transferred to the museum by Samsung Electronics as part of the “Link of Times - Technology Link” partnership program.
“New technologies of today help to bring back to life the finest technologies of the past. Samsung and the Hermitage establish a connection between the times and remind everyone of the continuity of human civilization, ”noted Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum.
By the way, in Soviet times, these watches were never exhibited in the permanent exhibition of the Hermitage: they were kept in the funds. But now, after the restoration is finally completed, the magnificent jukebox will take its place in the White Hall of the Hermitage, and museum visitors will be able to listen to Gluck’s charming melodies every hour.
On the last pre-holiday day, I would like to give you some entertaining-informative post, in order not to overload the brain that’s already set for the weekend. Therefore, the topic devoted to the restoration of the X-Rings-Kinzing's old-time musical clock came in very handy, in which Samsung Electronics took an active part in the long-term process. For nearly 10 years, the restorer, O. Z. Zinatullin, painstakingly restored the case, dial, as well as the clock and musical mechanisms, with the result that this rare and unique jukebox began to sound again for the first time since the beginning of the 20th century.
')
So, friends, sit back: you will find a story about how it was.
Prehistory: furniture-time affairs master
Meet - David Abrahamovich Roentgen (1743-1807), a master furniture maker and owner of a furniture workshop in the small German town of Neuwied, played an important role in the development of Russian furniture business of the classical era. At the end of the 18th century, many German craftsmen, especially furniture makers, watchmakers, bronze craftsmen and lustrovshchiki moved to Russia, closer to St. Petersburg construction sites, where they had the opportunity to start their own business and promote it much faster and more successfully than in their homeland. X-ray first came to Russia in 1784, where he immediately enlisted the support of Catherine II and, over the next 7 years, actively supplied his refined and technically heaped furniture to the empress's court.
During his first visit, David Roentgen brought to St. Petersburg a batch of furniture in which there were writing desk-chairs, “on which you can sit and stand,” toilet and drawing tables, as well as dressers, harpsichords, and spinning chairs (great-great-grandparents of our office hours) and the floor clock ... yes, that clock, about which, in fact, is the story.
The clock was equipped with a musical mechanism, including organ and cymbals, playing synchronously. The interchangeable musical drum recorded five melodies of the famous Austrian composer of the time, Christoph Gluck. Melodies can be played automatically, once per hour or three hours, and they are started / switched manually. The joy of the Empress knew no bounds; "The first furniture maker and mechanic of the century" - it was such an unspoken title that X-Ray received as a reward for his work. In addition to him, watchmaker Peter Kinzing, organ master Johann Weil and the bronze painter Francois Remon worked on the creation of a unique piece of interior. These are the largest watches in size that came out of the Roentgen – Kinzing workshop and the most unusual in sound. To date, about ten copies of this watch model have been preserved in the world.
By the way, a curious retreat. As you know, the music clock in those days was, in fact, the first gadgets: the customer could choose the melodies in the same way as today we select ringtones for our mobile phones. It has not been documented, but Valentin Molotkov, a researcher at the Hermitage laboratory for the restoration of watches and mechanisms, did not deny that Empress Catherine II could easily choose melodies that she later downloaded into the clock.
Connection of times - connection of technologies
And so, in April, the musical clock included in the Hermitage’s permanent exhibition was transferred to the museum by Samsung Electronics as part of the “Link of Times - Technology Link” partnership program.
“New technologies of today help to bring back to life the finest technologies of the past. Samsung and the Hermitage establish a connection between the times and remind everyone of the continuity of human civilization, ”noted Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum.
By the way, in Soviet times, these watches were never exhibited in the permanent exhibition of the Hermitage: they were kept in the funds. But now, after the restoration is finally completed, the magnificent jukebox will take its place in the White Hall of the Hermitage, and museum visitors will be able to listen to Gluck’s charming melodies every hour.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/118771/
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