page_title: Rønne
section_title: Grandfather clocks
hierarchical_section_title: Rønne / Economy and infrastructure / Grandfather clocks
caption_attribution_description: English: Bornholm clock (a longcase clock type originally made on Bornholm, Denmark). This case is rebuilt sometime in the 20th century Dansk: Bornholmerur. Kassen til dette ur er dog lettere ombygget i 1900 tallet.
context_page_description: Rønne is the largest town on the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. It has a population of 13,772. Once a municipality in its own right from 1970 until 2002, when Bornholm was a county with an area of 29.11 square kilometres, it is now the administrative centre of the Bornholm municipality. As of 2018 11,539 inhabitants live in Rønne Parish, which is a narrow piece of land on the westernmost of the island and stretching north and southward comprising around a third of the area of the former municipality. Knudsker Parish made up the rest of the former municipality. Not all inhabitants of either Rønne or Knudsker parishes live in the city of Rønne.
  Owing to its natural harbour and its strategic position in the Baltic Sea, Rønne has an interesting history coming under German and Swedish influence during its development as a herring fishing port. Today, with its cobbled streets, half-timbered houses and interesting museums, it attracts visitors mainly from Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Poland.
context_section_description: Rønne also became famous for its longcase clocks or Bornholmerure which were manufactured from the middle of the 18th century until around 1900. Interest in clock-making started when a Dutch ship sailing from England ran aground off Rønne in 1744 carrying five grandfather clocks which were damaged in the accident. In view of the clocks' value, the sailors called on Poul Ottesen Arboe, a local turner, who was able to repair them. As a result of the experience he gained in the repair work, he was able to manufacture clocks himself, giving birth to a new local industry.
  Several workshops soon began to produce Bornholm clocks which became popular as they were cheaper than the more authentic models produced elsewhere. There were probably about 30 different clockmakers in the town at the beginning of the 19th century. By the 1840s, some 2,000 clocks were made each year. Over the years, they were produced in various styles with both wooden and metal casings. The smaller pendulum clocks which were also produced became popular too. Around the end of the 19th century, production came to a halt as industrially produced clocks became far cheaper than Bornholm's handcrafted artefacts.
caption: Bornholm longcase clock
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