‘Ebenberg’ Clock

Kroeger Clock no. 1452, ca. 1895 (MC0003)

Arthur Kroeger obtained this clock from a Winnipeg clock collector in either 1977 or 1981. The collector had previously purchased it at an auction sale of items from the former Dunlop Museum in Lockport, Manitoba. Mr. Dunlop, the owner of the museum, had acquired it at the farm auction of Henry Hildebrand, who had passed away in 1976. He had originally come from the village of Ebenberg, Yakovlevo settlement, in what is now Ukraine. Arthur Kroeger restored, repaired, and repainted this clock in 1985. It lived with one of his daughters in Redondo Beach, California, for many years.

• Description Thirty-hour wall clock with pendulum and weight-driven movement, made by Kroeger Clockmakers in Rosenthal, Russian Empire (now Ukraine), ca. 1890, serial number 1452. Arched dial with raised chapter ring is red-brown with a single gold border around the perimeter and across the arch. Arch has a hand-painted gold scroll decoration. Spandrels are hand-painted gold scrolls as well. Red-brown chapter ring with gold Roman numerals; silver outer rings marking quarter hours and minutes; silver inner ring with black Arabic numerals marking the calendar. Three hands; bell, calendar, and repeater functions; chain drive; four weights.

• Mennonite Clock Number MC0003

• Object Name Kroeger Clock

• Serial Number 1452

• Other Number 644

• Date Created ca. 1895

• Maker Kroeger Clockmakers

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

• Other Markings No. 1452 (stamped on gear); 4 (stamped on the back of the gear wheels, as well as on both doors of the gearbox)

• Movement Type Iron plate

• Functions Bell; Calendar; Repeater

• Owner Kroeger Clocks Heritage Foundation

• Publications Arthur Kroeger, Kroeger Clocks (Steinbach, MB: Mennonite Heritage Village, 2012), pp. 128–129.