Paul Behrens (1893–1984) was a clockmaker in

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

in northern Germany.

Life

Behrens was the son of Paul Behrens sr, who himself had been a clockmaker in

. Paul Behrens jr took over the management of the family company ("Uhrenhaus Behrens") in 1936 and remained at its helm until 1975. Behrens is best known for his reconstruction of the peal of bells of St. Mary's Church in Lübeck and his creation of the new

Astronomical Clock An astronomical clock, horologium, or orloj is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the Sun, Moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets. Definition ...

in the same church (the original peal of bells and Astronomical Clock had been destroyed in the

Bombing of Lübeck in World War II During World War II, the city of Lübeck was the first German city to be attacked in substantial numbers by the Royal Air Force. The attack on the night of 28 March 1942 created a firestorm that caused severe damage to the historic centre, with ...

). He also ensured the financing of these initiatives and was able to give the completed clock to the church in 1967. In the same year, the city of Lübeck awarded Paul Behrens the Ehrenplakette of the Senate, one of the honours in the gift of the Senate of Lübeck.

Life

Further reading