22-07-2025
The Swiss Railways Clock That Still Keeps Travelers on Time
In the 1940s, Hans Hilfiker, a mechanic and engineer, created an electric clock that has become a symbol of Swiss rail reliability as well as a design icon still seen today in homes and on wrists around the world.
As an employee of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), Mr. Hilfiker was tasked with unifying station clock designs and synchronizing timekeeping across the rail network. He stripped the clock face of Roman numerals and other ornaments, keeping a plain, black marker for each minute on a white dial. Its most recognizable element was a slender, bright-red second hand with a disc at its tip, much like the dispatch baton that station officials were using at the time to signal a train to leave a station.
That red second hand swept the dial continually, driven by an electric motor, while the minute hand relied on signals from a central control.
'That was truly a quantum leap in clock design,' said Isabelle Bitterli of SBB Historic, a foundation organized to preserve and showcase Swiss railroad history. 'This design, which is so simple and precise in its function, naturally symbolizes the entire SBB. It represents accuracy, precision, simplicity and a focus on the essentials.'
Minimalist clocks, inspired by Bauhaus principles, are visible in many public places around the world. But experts say the Hilfiker clock's reliability and its presence in about 800 rail stations today has ensured its position as an icon of timekeeping.
Time Differences
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