Clock museum

In 1977, the Klaipėda Picture Gallery opened the first exhibition of old clocks in Lithuania, consisting of items from collections belonging to citizens of Klaipėda. In 1979, the Lithuanian Art Museum established a clock department, and in 1984, in a restored 19th-century building, a branch of the Lithuanian Art Museum was opened – the Klaipėda Clock Museum, one of the most truly unique museums in Eastern Europe.
In order to show clearly the historical evolution of clock construction, it was necessary to create models of many sundials, water and fire clocks, and hourglasses and the parts of mechanical clocks. The Restoration Centre of the Art Museum restored old clocks.
A sundial park was established in the Museum courtyard.

The exhibition at the Clock Museum consists of two parts. The first floor reveals the principles of time measurement and the evolution of clock construction from antiquity to the present day. Visitors are acquainted with calendars and ancient sundials, hourglasses, water, fire, and mechanical clocks, etc.
The second floor reveals the changes in the shape and design of mechanical clocks from the Renaissance to the modern style (16th-20th century). This exhibition presents the work of famous European and Lithuanian master clockmakers – Theodor Tarasowig of Vilnius as well as Abraham Louis Breguet and Theodore Perret of Switzerland and others.
Here, there are over 1700 original and rare clocks and reconstructions. This clock exhibition is supplemented with furniture, interior details, and engravings in appropriate styles.

The Museum has these long-term exhibitions:
• The History of the Building that Houses the Clock Museum exhibits photographs of the interior of the museum building from 1914-1924;
• Baroque – the Marvellous Technique of André-Charles Boulle exhibits sumptuous clocks and furniture covered with tortoise shell in the Baroque and Neo-Baroque styles of the 18th and 19th centuries;

The Clock Museum organizes celebrations of equinoxes and solstices called The Sun Comes Round and the fundraiser Museum Night. Various events are held in the courtyard for the citizens of Klaipėda and their guests, and throughout the year on Saturdays and Sundays (12 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) there are carillon concerts of bell music.
The Educational Centre conducts time measurement activities for schoolchildren of various ages, and there are events called Make Yourself a Clock for children, adults, and families.

Address
Liepų St. 12, LT-92114 Klaipėda
Tel.: (+370 46) 41 0413
Fax: (+370 46) 41 0417
E-mail: klm@takas.lt
www.muziejai.lt/klm; www.ldm.lt

Working hours
Tuesday – Saturday 12 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday 12 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Closes one hour earlier on the eve of national holidays.
Closed on Mondays and national holidays.