Abstract
Praying five-times-a-day is one of the most important religious obligations for Muslims, and prayers should be performed during certain periods defined by the position of the Sun at a given location. Before the full adoption of the international standard time in Turkey in the twentieth century, the mean solar time, popularly called “European time” (alla franca time) started to be used in the major cities of the Ottoman Empire, mainly in communication and transportation networks connecting the Empire with European countries. Thus both the solar mean time and the local apparent time (Turkish time or the alla turca time) were concurrently used in the Ottoman Empire in the latter part of the nineteenth century. The present paper examines the mechanism of alla turca clocks and especially the pocket watch designed and manufactured by J. Meyer (1843–1920) in Istanbul for keeping automatically both the Turkish and European times.
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Notes
- 1.
D. A. King, “Astronomy and Islamic Society: Qibla, gnomonics and timekeeping,” in R. Rashed, ed., Encyclopaedia of the History of Arabic science, vol. 1 (Astronomy). London – New York: Routledge 1996, pp. 128–184 (p. 182, Timekeeping in Ottoman Turkey).
- 2.
O. Kurz, European Clocks and Watches in the Near East. London: Warburg Institute, University of London, 1975, pp. 49–51; F. Günergun, “Science in the Ottoman World,” in Imperialism and Science by G.N. Vlahakis et al., Santa Barbara California: ABC Clio, 2006, pp. 78–79 in pp. 71–118.
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A. Bir and M. Kaçar, “Takiyüddin bin Maruf’s Astronomical clock,” in Visible Faces of the Time – Timepieces. Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2009, pp. 67–82.
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R. Hildebrand, “Isaac Rousseau à Péra: heurs et malheurs d’un compagnon horloger,” in P. Dumont, R. Hildebrand, and R. Montandon, eds., L’Horloger du Sérail: aux sources du fantasme oriental chez Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Paris: IFEA, Maisonneuve & Larose, 2005, pp. 28–47.
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R. Murphey, “The Ottoman Attitude Towards the Adoption of Western Technology: The Role of the efrenci Technicians in Civil and Military Applications,” in J. L. Bacqué-Grammont and P. Dumont, eds., Contributions à l’histoire économique et sociale de l’Empire Ottoman, Collection Turcica III, Louvain, 1983, pp. 287–298; F. Çakmut, “Turkish Clocks and Watches in the Topkapı Palace Museum Clock Collection,” in Visible Faces of the Time – Timepieces, Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2009, pp. 91–103.
- 6.
Document (MS.HHA-E.II/1501) kept at Dolmabahçe Palace Museum (Istanbul) archives, Istanbul. The document dated c. 1887, states that Johann Meyer had devoted much effort to the difficult task of designing an automatic clock showing prayer time.
- 7.
The inscription on the reverse reads “Sa’atci Meyer, sene 1305, fi 28 Rebi’ulevvel” (Watchmaker Meyer, 14 December 1887). The inscription on the obverse reads “El-mustenid bi-tevfîkat-ir rabbâniye -Melik-ül Devlet-ül Osmâniye- Abdülhamîd Hân” (On the divine right of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Abdulhamid Han).
- 8.
This description is summarized from J. Meyer’s petition kept in Dolmabahçe Palace Museum Archives, Istanbul, MS.HHA-E.II/1501.
- 9.
A. E. Waugh, Sundials, Their Theory and Construction. New York: Dover Publications, 1973, pp. 6–28.
- 10.
E. İhsanoğlu and F. Günergun, “Osmanlı Türkiyesinde ‘Alaturka Saat’ten ‘Alafranga Saat’e Geçiş,” X. Ulusal Astronomi Kongresi (Istanbul 2–6 Eylül 1996), Istanbul 1996, pp. 434–441.
- 11.
Ş. Gürbüz, “On the Presence and Absence of Clock Towers,” in Visible Faces of the Time – Timepieces. Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2009, pp. 133–147.
- 12.
The first shop was located across the entrance of the Tünel (funicular) building in Karaköy. Following a project of public works in the era, the shop moved to a nearby address (Billur Sokağı, No.8/1) in 1958. Presently, the shop houses a hardware dealer. The workshop which was active in 1950s at Bakırköy-Bahçelievler district (Yayla Durağı Karşısı No.81) does not exist anymore. The company “Meyer Saatçilik” (Meyer Clockmaking) is presently run by Mr. Nahsen Bayındır at the “Mumhane Caddesi No.23, Karaköy.”
- 13.
The Ottoman Archives at the State Archives of the Republic of Turkey, BOA, İ.TAL, 97/1313/Z-044, 08.Z.1313).
- 14.
W. Meyer, Topkapı Sarayı Müzesindeki Saatlerin Katalogu / Catalogue of Clocks and Watches in the Topkapı Sarayı Museum, İstanbul 1971.
- 15.
W. Meyer, İstanbul’daki Güneş Saatleri (Sundials of Istanbul), in H. Klautke, ed., Sandoz Kültür Yayınları, No.7, İstanbul 1985. See also; W. Meyer; “Sundials of the Osmanic era in Istanbul”, International Symposium on the Observatories in Islam, 19–23 September 1977, Kandilli Observatory, İstanbul, 1980; W. Meyer, “Die Zeitbestimmung im Islam: historische Übersicht,” in H. Wilschowitz, ed., Deutschsprachige katholische Gemeinde in der Türkei 1954–1979: ein Überblick in Berichten, Aufsätzen und Geschichten, [İstanbul, W. Blümel, 1979] S. 206–247; W. Meyer “Instrumente zur Bestimmung der Gebetszeiten im Islam”, Proceedings of the I. International Congress on the History of Turkish-Islamic Science and Technology, 14–18 September 1981, Vol. I, pp. 9–32.
- 16.
Şinasi Acar, “Meyer’in ayar gerektirmeyen ezânî saati” (Meyer’s alla turca watch that does not needs adjustments), Yapı, nr. 287 (Ekim 2005): 99–104.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Mrs. Inge Traut (Hunger) Detmold, Wolfgang Meyer’s spouse and to Mr. Nahsen Bayındır for providing documents and photographs related to the members of Meyer family and their horological activities.
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Appendix: The Clockmaker Family Meyer
Appendix: The Clockmaker Family Meyer
As clockmakers, inventors and improvers of mechanical clocks and watches, the Meyer family over three generations has a distinguished place in the history of horology in Turkey. The company “Meyer Saat Tamirat ve Ticareti” (Meyer Clock Repair and Trade Company) was established in 1878 by Johann Meyer (1843–1920) and was active in Istanbul for a century until the death of his grandson Wolfgang Meyer in 1981. His shop was in Péra, Istanbul. Later on, the shop moved to Karaköy, the business district and pear of Istanbul. The workshop, located at Bakırköy-Bahçelievler district mostly produced large clocks for factories, schools and such institutions.Footnote 12
Johann Meyer was sent to Istanbul by the German Emperor Wilhelm II (r.1888-1918) after his first visit to the Ottoman capital city in 1878, upon the request of Sultan Abdulhamid II (r.1876-1909). J. Meyer served as clockmaker in the Ottoman Palace until the end of his life. He invented the automatic watch keeping the alla turca (ezânî) time. This invention was recognized by Sultan Abdulhamid II by a silver medal and certificate on 14 December 1887. J. Meyer was also granted a Mecidî decoration of distinction with diamonds and a certificate on 21 May 1896 for his longstanding services (Fig. 8).Footnote 13
Three generations of family Meyer. Johann Meyer (1843–1920) (left), Emile Meyer (1883–1954) (middle), Wolfgang Meyer (1909–1981) (right)
To Johann was born a son, Emile Meyer (1883–1954), in Istanbul. Emile was educated in the German School in Istanbul, and left for Germany to be trained as master clockmaker. He returned to Istanbul in 1908 to work with his father. At the end of the World War I, he left Turkey for Germany where he acted as the manager of the clock company Huber in Munich. He returned to Istanbul in 1922 and took over the business of his father who had died on 8 April 1920 in Istanbul. At the end of the World War II, the members of the family Meyer were interned as German nationals in Kırşehir, a town in central Anatolia, in 1944 when Turkey joined the allies. Back in Istanbul as the war ended, he took over the direction of the company that he run until his death on 7 March 1954.
Emile’s son Wolfgang Meyer (1909–1981) was also educated in the German School, Istanbul and received his training as clockmaker from his father. He took over the direction of the company after his father died in 1954. He was interested in the theory of time keeping instruments, in repairing old clocks and watches. W. Meyer compiled and published the catalogue of the clocks and watches kept in the Topkapı Palace Museum (Istanbul) upon the suggestion of Hayrullah Örs, the director of the Museum.Footnote 14 Meyer also produced a number of articles on time keeping instruments, especially on sundials.Footnote 15
After W. Meyer’s death in 1981, the company’s shares were left to his apprentices according to Meyer’s will. One of them, Nahsen Bayındır, continued to run the company in a shop located in the vicinity of the Galata Port. Meyer’s other former apprentice, the master watchmaker Recep Gürgen is actually the official clock repair expert of the Dolmabahçe and Topkapı Palace museums. At the grave of the Meyer family at the Feriköy Protestant Cemetery of Istanbul, are buried the Johann Meyer (18.11.1843–4.8.1920), Emile Meyer (3.9.1883–7.3.1954), E.Meyer’s wife Martha Meyer (14.1.1886–14.8.1960), Wolfgang Meyer (23.5.1909–16.9.1981), Wolfgang Meyer’s brother Ewald Meyer (Istanbul, 5.11.1910–Hamburg, 12.1.1998).Footnote 16
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Bir, A., Acar, Ş., Kaçar, M. (2011). The Clockmaker Family Meyer and Their Watch Keeping the alla turca Time. In: Günergun, F., Raina, D. (eds) Science between Europe and Asia. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol 275. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9968-6_8
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