Johann Adam Hoyer was a clockmaker and master craftsman in
Josefstadt
Josefstadt (; Central Bavarian: ''Josefstod'') is the eighth district of Vienna (german: 8. Bezirk, Josefstadt). It is near the center of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but borders changed later. Josefstadt is a heavily po ...
(now the 8th district of Vienna) who died in 1838. There are a few known examples of his work still extant, including a flute clock and a miniature wall clock from the
Biedermeier era. He is credited with developing a clock that was wound by the creation of
hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...
.
Hoyer was one of a few clockmakers in the early 19th century who experimented with hydrogen-powered winding mechanisms. Pasquale Andervalt in Italy c. 1835 was another,
and his clock is in the
Clockmakers' Company
The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers was established under a royal charter granted by King Charles I in 1631. It ranks sixty-first among the livery companies of the City of London, and comes under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council. The ...
in London.
A hydrogen-wound clock is described in the Country Life International Dictionary of Clocks: "It consists of an open-centred dial exposing the mechanism, with a pin-pallet escapement and ornate gilt pendulum bob, the clock movement being mounted on supports fixed to a large red glass cylinder. Above the movement is a coiled spiral brass tube holding balls of zinc which, as the driving weight nears its lower position, are released one by one to fall into a solution of dilute sulphuric acid in the red glass jar. Hydrogen gas is generated and the resulting pressure lifts the entire mechanism behind the dial, winding the going weight, the larger of the two visible. The smaller weight is used to maintain the clock in motion whilst the larger is wound, the winding process being quite slow. On completion of the winding the hydrogen gas is released in preparation for the next cycle. These clocks are rare; hydrogen is a most inflammable gas and perhaps the majority have exploded in use."
[Country Life International Dictionary of Clocks, Editor Allan Smith, 1979, ]
References
External links
A Flute Clock by Johann Hoyer, c. 1820A miniature wall clock by Johann Hoyer, c. 1810-1838A Hydrogen Clock
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoyer, Johann Adam
Austrian clockmakers
1838 deaths
Year of birth unknown