Astronomical Clock

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg - Horloge astronomique. Strasbourg Cathedral - Astronomical Clock. "The large astronomical Clock in the S. transept was constructed in 1838-42 by [Jean-Baptiste] Schwilgué, a clock-maker of Strassburg. ... The exterior attracts spectators at all times, especially at noon ... On the first gallery an angel strikes the quarters on a bell in his hand; while a genius at his side reverses his sand-glass every hour. Higher up, around a skeleton which strikes the hours, re grouped figures representing boyhood, youth, manhood and old age (the four quarters of the hour). Under the first gallery the symbolic deity of each day steps out of a niche, Apollo on Sunday, Diana on Monday, and so on. In the highest niche, a noon, the Twelve Apostles move around a figure of the Saviour. On the highest pinnacle of the side-tower, which contains the weights, is perched a cock, which flaps its wings, stretches its neck, and crows, awakening the echoes of the remotest nooks of the cathedral. The mechanism also sets in motion a planetarium, behind which is a perpetual calendar".--Baedeker 1911. Part of Strasbourg, Grande-Île and Neustadt UNESCO World Heritage site. DSC_0931