The History of Mühle-Glashütte

The history of the Mühle family has its roots in the German federal state of Saxony and goes back a long way. The family already existed in the area surrounding the town of Pirna, which once formed part of the Kingdom of Bohemia, back in as early as around the year 1300. The members of one branch of the family were even bestowed the noble title of barons. The bourgeois line of the Mühle family also produced a number of family members who were very famous back in their day, for example the musical director Nicolaus Mühle and the pastor Johann Georg Mühle.

Robert Mühle was born under the name of George Albert Mühle in Lauenstein, a town located a few kilometres away from Glashütte, on 28th June 1841. He assumed the name Robert at a later point in time, probably after the early death of his first wife and their son Robert.

The year 1869 marked the start of a new era for our family. After all, despite the fact that our ancestors had already made a name for themselves as musical directors, pastors and barons in the Glashütte region, it was up to Robert Mühle to shape the destiny of the Mühle family right through to the present day. Already during his employment for Moritz Großmann, Robert Mühle established his own company in Glashütte. He began to work at his company on 22nd April 1869. The "Robert Mühle Glashütte" precision mechanical workshop subsequently developed into the sole manufacturer of measuring instruments for the watchmaking companies based in Glashütte and for the German School of Watchmaking.

At the beginning of the 20th century, our family company was flourishing. As the sole manufacturer of dial gauges for Glashütte, Robert Mühle offered a comprehensive range of high-precision measuring instruments. In fact, his mechanical Robert Mühle dial gauge enabled users to record precise measurements that were accurate to the nearest thousand of a millimetre. Back then, providing such a high level of precision was unheard of and therefore an extremely impressive achievement. We ultimately still produce components for our wristwatches that are accurate to the nearest thousandth of a millimetre - nowadays, however, with the help of our state-of-the-art CNC machining centres.

Hans Mühle (1903-1970) was born as the son of Paul and Elisabeth Mühle and was one of Robert Mühle's grandsons. After completing his university studies, he worked as a production engineer. Hans Mühle was born with a passion for precise measurement, not only due to his paternal background, but also thanks to his mother, whose maiden name was Stübner. The Stübner family boasted a strong reputation as manufacturers of chronometers used to time the lighting of beacons.

Ever since it was founded in 1869, R. Mühle & Son had established a superb reputation as a manufacturer of precise measuring devices. On the basis of this reputation, Paul, Alfred and Max Mühle – the second generation of the family-owned company – were able to successfully expand its production activities into a new field. From 1918/19 onwards, our family therefore also produced speedometers, rev counters and car clocks. The fact that the company also supplied dial gauges for the first automotive manufacturers in the city of Zwickau in Saxony played an important role in the expansion of its production activities when one of these manufacturers asked Mühle to develop a speedometer. The company rose to the challenge and initially developed a speedometer for Horch before gradually welcoming new customers such as the Elite factories in Brand-Erbisdorf and DKW in Zschopau. It wasn’t long before many different motorcycles equipped with Glashütte Mühle speedometers were on the road, for example those from Wanderer in Chemnitz, BMW, D-Rad, Triumph, A.J.S. and many more.

The extension of Mühle's manufacturing activities by adding speedometers and car clocks to its existing range of dial gauges proved to be an extremely successful move for our family company. It provided R. Mühle & Sohn with a second string to its bow, which was particularly important during typical economic periods such as the Great Depression, when many watch manufacturers in Glashütte were forced to close down. From 1930 onwards, R. Mühle & Sohn additionally manufactured car clocks for lorries and time measuring instruments for motorcycles produced by the company Wanderer alongside its range of speedometers. In addition to these products, Mühle also manufactured more and more on-board clocks with an off-centre second hand for military use in order to keep up with increasing demand.

R. Mühle & Sohn's success story continued right up until the period of commotion that took place after the end of the Second World War, when a large number of companies in Glashütte, including our family business, were expropriated and dismantled. Only 20 percent of their equipment and production facilities remained in Glashütte and were incorporated into the Zeiss factories in the city of Jena under the name of "Messtechnik Glashütte" ('Glashütte Measurement Technology').

The expropriation of the company "R. Mühle & Sohn", which had been operating successfully for over 75 years, was a huge blow to our family. Nevertheless, thanks to the third generation of our family company, the name “Mühle” continued to be associated with precise measurement. Hans Mühle founded a new company in December 1945 and as a result, the family company was given the new name of "Ing. Hans Mühle". Hans Mühle not only founded this new family company alongside his work as the manager of the expropriated company “R. Mühle & Sohn” but also based its headquarters in the very same building. While the first two floors of the original Mühle building contained speedometer production and repair facilities, its top floor was home to the production of motion works for pressure and temperature measuring devices or the “Kontolina” ruling device.

The number of staff working at the company increased from three to an impressive total of 60 employees within just a few years. At the time, "Ing. Hans Mühle" was the only manufacturer of motion works for pressure and temperature measuring devices in East Germany and remained a privately owned company despite the political circumstances in the German Democratic Republic.

In 1972, our family company was expropriated for a second time and converted into the state-owned enterprise "VEB Feinmechanik Glashütte" ('Glashütte Precision Engineering'). Hans-Jürgen Mühle continued in his role as the plant manager of the enterprise, which was operated as an independent company for eight more years.

The reunification of Germany opened up a world of new business opportunities for the Mühle family. As the Sales Manager of VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe, Hans-Jürgen Mühle and four other colleagues were appointed as managing directors and given the task of converting the company into the newly applicable economic system in 1990. After successfully completing this task, Hans-Jürgen Mühle left Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe GmbH in order to pursue his true calling in another area.

In 1995, one of the shipyards to which we supplied our products asked us if we could also supply a number of robust water-resistant wristwatches to be used on its ships. Our history had already taught us that when it comes to precision engineering, nothing is impossible for the Mühle family. After all, we had already successfully manufactured high-precision measuring instruments, speedometers and car clocks. Hans-Jürgen therefore quickly responded to the shipyard's enquiry: of course we can! This response signalled the start of Mühle-Glashütte's wristwatch production activities, with the company's nautical values incorporated into the watches' DNA, so to speak, right from the word go. It therefore comes as no surprise that the first two Mühle wristwatches available to purchase were its "Herren-Sporttaucher-Uhr" men's sport diving watch and "Marinefliegeruhr-I" marine pilots' watch. The first ever wristwatch to be produced by our company, however, had no name. The predecessor to the men's sport diving watch was simply part of the equipment used on ships – a time measuring instrument designed to perform a task.

On 15th February 2002, the first S.A.R. Rescue-Timers were presented to the captains Erwin Borchardt and Lutz Griesberg in the seaside resort of Warnemünde, a district of the city of Rostock. The watch had been developed in cooperation with the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (DGzRS). All 56 S.A.R. Rescue-Timers have been facing an ongoing endurance test on the vessels of the DGzRS since autumn 2002.

The woodpecker neck regulation, developed by Mühle-Glashütte, is a further development of the renowned swan neck fine regulation from Glashütte. Its special shape, which resembles the head and neck of a woodpecker, makes it particularly shockproof. The woodpecker neck regulation therefore not only facilitates the particularly sensitive adjustment of Mühle watches, but also makes them extremely robust.

The three-quarter plate is a typical characteristic of high-quality Glashütte watches. It gets its name from the fact that it covers approximately three quarters of the watch movement. In line with the Glashütte tradition, our newly developed plate is also fitted with the classic Glashütte click and a removable escape wheel bridge. In 2008, the Mühle three-quarter plate was launched and was initially used in the company's chronograph movements. The basic movement was then modified so profoundly that it had to be given its own, and Mühle's first, calibre designation: MU 9408.

Under the leadership of Thilo Mühle, the company not only developed its first hand-wound movement, MU 9411, but also, and above all, the Robert Mühle RMK 01 and 02 calibres. These calibres form the magnificent centrepiece of the "R. Mühle & Sohn" manufacturing line, which was unveiled on the 145th anniversary of the founding of the company by Robert Mühle.

The Robert Mühle Zeigerdatum with the mechanical hand-wound movement RMK 03 was presented in 2016. It is equipped with the power reserve display Auf/Ab and the Mühle pointer date. The exclusive timepiece is limited to 100 pieces.

In our anniversary year, we are not only celebrating the 30th anniversary of Mühle-Glashütte, but also the official entry of the 6th generation into the management of the company. Under Thilo Mühle's leadership, it has developed step by step into an esteemed manufactory - the fine Robert Mühle calibers are fascinating examples of this. Thilo Mühle is now looking forward to the support of his children: they are now shaping the future of the family business together with him: Fanny is responsible for sales and customer care, Dustin heads the production department and manages the manufactory - while Thilo Mühle continues to bear the main responsibility for the company.