The Anker Clock

The Anker Clock is a sight telling stories all by itself. That’s why I love listening to it. Every day at noon it plays a medley that guides its visitors through Vienna’s history; from Marc Aurel & the Romans to Joseph Haydn & the music.

A clock owned by an insurance company – especially the Swiss Helvetia Insurance Group – is extraordinary. But I have to mention this clock doesn’t run like a Swiss clockwork. Maybe that’s why it is in Vienna ;) Actually it is due to the old drag chain of the figures. It expands and contracts due to temperature. So it’s all physics. And still you never know how fast time passes by.

Originally the Anker Insurance Company established the clock as a marketing slapstick. For 102 years this clock stands for the transitoriness of time. At the beginning is this little human being and at the end stands Grim Reaper. In between you are better well insured with Anker Insurance – or now it’s Helvetia.

This old lady tells many stories inside and outside. Why there wasn’t an official opening. Why she actually is on a bridge. What she has to do with Big Ben. And who saved her from Viennese plunderers after WW II.

Thanks to committed employees of the Helvetia the clock is in good hands. And thanks to these employees we’ll tell you more stories in our Travel Logs.