Drawing for the primer_ Clock c. 1905

Hans Thoma made this drawing for the primer ‘Clock’ using pen and ink. It depicts two kinds of clocks: a cuckoo clock, with its quaint carving of a bird emerging from a little house, and a pocket watch, the kind of modern timepiece that was becoming widely available in the late nineteenth century. Thoma was working in Germany at a time when industrialization was rapidly changing people’s daily lives and social structures. What might seem like a simple drawing of a clock takes on a deeper meaning when viewed in this context. The cuckoo clock, with its folksy design, symbolizes a traditional way of life rooted in nature and craft. By contrast, the pocket watch represents the increasing regimentation of time brought about by factories and urbanization. As historians, we might look at how this artwork reflects anxieties about modernization and the loss of traditional values, anxieties that were widespread at the time. We need to consider the impact of technology, economic change, and the evolving social fabric of late 19th-century Germany.