19th-Century Mennonite Wall Clock Finds a Home at Grebel
A traditional Mennonite Wanduhr (wall clock) now hangs on display at the Mennonite Archives of Ontario, thanks to Kenneth Friesen (BSC 1997) and his father Bert. The Friesens visited Conrad Grebel University College on September 26 to formally transfer ownership to the Archives. Clockmaker Kornelius Hildebrand (1833-1920) constructed this clock in 1872 in Chortitza, South Russia, now Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.
“I always thought it would be wonderful to have a Wanduhr in our collection,” said Archivist-Librarian Laureen Harder-Gissing. Wanduhr simply means “wall clock,” but a distinctive shape and style of painted face marked these clocks as familiar to Mennonites who remember them ticking away the hours in homes of their childhood. “The clock has already sparked memories and curiosity. It’s a historical conversation starter and teaching tool.”
Mennonite clockmakers learned their trade in Prussia (now northern Poland) and took their skills with them to Imperial Russia in the late 18th century. Originally, these were small, family-run businesses, the most famous being the Kroeger family of clockmakers. The distinctive painted faces were often the work of the women of the clockmaker’s family.
Many Mennonite immigrant families took great care to bring their wall clocks with them on the voyage to Canada. However, the story of this particular clock—between its arrival in Canada and when Kenneth Friesen discovered it on a Vancouver Island antique dealer’s website—is lost to time. The initials “AJF” painted on the clockface may provide a clue. Kenneth’s interest in acquiring one of these clocks came from family stories of his Kroeger clockmaking ancestors. He hopes that giving this clock a home at Grebel will stoke interest in their manufacture, artistry, and social history. The Friesens picked 2025 to donate the clock since it marks 100 years of the arrival of some of their ancestors in Canada.
The Mennonite Archives of Ontario, housed at Grebel, collects, preserves, and provides access to centuries of archival materials that reflect religious, cultural, organizational, family, and personal lives of Mennonites with roots or branches in the province. The transnational nature of Mennonite history—including items such as a clock that journeyed half-way around the world—is reflected in the Archive collections.
