Special Exhibition

Good news. Our special exhibition “Time is female” has been extended and can now be experienced until 04.05.2025. Entitled “The time is female.”, this time the focus is on ladies’ watches and the role of women in connection with watches. Based on the German Watch Museum Glashütte’s own collection, the exhibition looks at two things: What is a ladies’ watch? What makes a watch a ladies’ watch? And: What role do women play in the watch? What influence have women exerted on the handling of time, on the watch and on the craft? At first glance, it is not easy to judge when a ladies’ watch is a ladies’ watch. Does the size alone make a watch a ladies’ watch? Is it the visual appearance? Or is it the way in which the watch is worn? The exhibition presents numerous examples from Glashütte and international production and provides a surprisingly simple answer to the question.

In addition to watches for women, women themselves also take centre stage. The special exhibition uses examples to show the different roles of women in the spectrum of watchmaking and timekeeping. Visitors are introduced to Eva Fitkau, who was one of only a few female students at the German School of Watchmaking Glashütte, who produced a horological masterpiece during her time at school: a movement model with a flying tourbillon. A section is also dedicated to the Ruth Belville, who went down in history as the “Greenwich Time Lady”. And the famous writer Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, who built up an impressive watch collection during her lifetime and dedicated her novella “Lotti, die Uhrmacherin” specifically to the subject, will also be presented. This piece of literature is shown as a video in Michael Sommer’s “World Literature to Go”, in which the characters are embodied by PLAYMOBIL figures. The exhibition also features excerpts from the film art project “UNRUH”, which won an award at the Berlinale in 2022.