‘Katherine’ Clock

Hildebrand Clock, 1856 (MC0226)

Katherine 'Kay' Martens donated this clock to Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada, in 2016.

This clock probably came into the Unger family a few years after the donor's great-great-grandfather Peter Unger's (1812–1888) marriage to his second wife, Katarina Klassen (1832–1905), in 1852. The Ungers immigrated to Canada in 1874 and settled on the East Reserve in Manitoba.

The clock was handed down through the generations to the Katherines in the family. Katherine Martens’s grandmother gave it to her daughter Katherina (Unger) Doerksen (née Giesbrecht). Katherina Doerksen in turn gave the clock to her niece, Katherine Martens.

The clock was in poor condition when Martens inherited it. There are no photographs of the clock in this state, but it had been stored in a parking garage and she recalled being very disappointed in the clock's condition when she received it.

Martens recalled that the clock hung in her grandparents' (George and Katherine Unger) bedroom. The clock could be seen from the doorway, and Martens remembers being very excited to watch her grandfather wind the clock. According to her memories, he probably did this every morning. The children weren't allowed in the bedroom, so this was the closest she came to the clock as a child.

According to family lore, the clock stopped at the hour of her aunt Katherine Doerksen's death.

This clock was repainted in 1915 and again in 1968. The second restoration was done by Patricia Klassen, daughter of P.E. Klassen of Herbert, Saskatchewan.

Arthur Kroeger restored the clock in 2002. He repainted the face, painted the gearbox, fixed a broken gear, cleaned and oiled the mechanism, restored the existing hand, and provided a new hand. Martens recalls that the clock looked 'very similar' after its restoration to its appearance when her grandparents owned it.

 

  • Description Thirty-hour wall clock with pendulum and weight-driven movement, made by Kornelius Hildebrand (1833–1920) in Chortitza, Russian Empire (now Ukraine), in 1856. Arched dial with raised chapter ring is white with a single black border around the perimeter. Arch has hand-painted decoration of roses and rosebuds surrounded by greenery. Spandrels are also hand-painted roses and rosebuds with leaves. Chapter ring is white with black Roman numerals and has white outer rings marking the minutes and quarter hours. The year 1856 is painted inside the chapter ring. Two hands that are likely not original; rope drive; two weights.

  • Mennonite Clock Number MC0226

  • Object Name Hildebrand Clock

  • Mennonite Heritage Village Accession Number 2016.3.1

  • Date Created 1856

  • Maker Kornelius Hildebrand (1833–1920)

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

  • Other Markings KHDB (stamped on mechanism); KHDB / Made by Kornelius Hildebrand / in Chortitza, Ukraine in 1856 / Restored by Arthur Kroeger / in Winnipeg in 2002 (written on back of face)

  • Movement Type Iron plate

  • Function Calendar (calendar hand missing)

  • Owner Mennonite Heritage Village

  • Notes The hands are unusual and are likely not original.

 

Kornelius Hildebrand made this clock only two years after he finished his apprenticeship, before he started marking his clocks with a serial number.