Oxlaey Cultural Heritage Travel Magazine Podcast

The Ankeruhr stands high at the Hohe Markt in Vienna, Austria. The clock was designed to make time stand still, in a way. It seems that human beings have forever tried to immortalize themselves. Famous Romans built statues and buildings so the next generations would remember them. European kings wanted to be powerful forever so they commissioned wall-sized, selfie-styled paintings. Rich people do the same today. People like Bill Gates, who started a foundation, so his fortune can perpetuate his reputation long after his death. WHY THE ANKERUHR WAS BUILT A life insurance company built the Ankeruhr in 1915. The clock was a memorial for Vienna's most powerful citizens. That's why the Ankeruhr looks radically different than a normal clock with big and small hands, which turning around and point at numbers. Credit: Michela Simoncini Instead the Ankeruhr has a different life-sized statue for each hour, that walks across a bridge between two buildings. Over each figure’s head is a number, which is the time of the