Vienna celebrates the return of the precious amethyst cross to the watch museum!

Vienna celebrates the return of the precious amethyst cross to the watch museum!

On June 18, 2025, an important collection of collection will be presented in the Wien Museum: the Amethyst Cross, a precious clock from the 17th century. This valuable copy, which was lost in World War II, came into the possession of the British watch collector Simon Bull. In a solemn handover, City Councilor Veronica Kaup-Hasler personally accepted the return.

The Amethyst Cross used to be part of Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach's collection. This important writer and collector left the watch museum an impressive collection of watches, including 270 pocket watches. The watch was probably manufactured as a wedding gift by Christoph Schöner, a watchmaker born in Vienna. The piece of jewelry impresses with a housing made of fire -gilded brass and amethyst as well as a dial made of matt silver and measures 59 mm in length, 34 mm in width and 22 mm in depth.

The history of the watch museum

The watch museum, which was founded in 1917 by the City of Vienna, shows the development of time measurement across various eras. The foundation for the collection was already laid by Rudolf Kafan, who had compiled over 10,000 watches. Today the museum comprises around 700 watches that are divided into epochs on three floors and enable a trip through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque period and the Empire. The 700 kg tower tower from St. Stephan, which was installed in 1699, is one of the extraordinary exhibits.

The first exhibition took place in the private apartment of Kaftan in the Palais Obizzi. In recent years, the museum has continued to develop and now shows, among other things, travel drives, cuckoo watches and pendulum clocks. There is also a catalog that documents the history and artistry of the individual watches.

visiting information

The watch museum is located in one of the oldest houses in Vienna in the city center, at the address Schulhof 2, 1010 Vienna. The opening times are from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., while it remains closed on certain holidays. Entry is 7 euros, reduced 5 euros, and for children and adolescents under the age of 19 and on the first Sunday of the month, admission is free.

With the return of the Amethyst cross, not only a piece of history is revived, but also enriches another significant part of the collection of the watch museum. Simon Bull had honestly acquired the watch and successfully traced her origin before handing it over to the museum.

For more information about the history and the collections of the watch museum, visit the pages of Wien.gv.at , Travel blogger and history wiki .