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LIVE PAST is constantly making small progress. The virtual tour guide of the immersive tour "Zytglogge" has been modeled and is ready to be animated and textured.
Hans von Thann: 3D model
© Live Past
It is about Hans von Thann, the gilded jacquemart in the tower spire, who strikes the hour bell with a hammer.
Zytglogge tower: aerial view
© Live Past
Hans von Thann, The Golden Hour-Striker
In 1534, the journeyman shoemaker, Sebastian Fischer, records the armoured bell-striker in his wandering booklet. In 1554, the name Hans von Thann is mentioned for the first time on the occasion of a repair: Caspar Brükessel, the clockmaker, from Hansen von Thann again to make...
The mighty lime wood figure with helmet and armour was created between 1467 and 1485, when the tower was extended and the bells were moved to the new tower lantern. It was meant to remind people that with the first wheel clocks, which were only capable of striking a bell or a signal bell, a person had to strike the strokes on a large bell. At the same time, the mechanical figure was intended to praise the progress of the technology of the time. An automaton that did the work of a human being was undoubtedly a technical sensation.
Zytglogge tower: Spire's figure "Hans von Thann"
© zytglogge-bern.ch
It was natural that the human figure should be given a name, perhaps after a historical person who had a connection with the chime. In France it was often called Jaquemart, in England Jack, in Belgium Jean or Jantje. In the German-speaking area, the name Hans usually appears. Unfortunately, the origin of the name Hans von Thann could not be definitively clarified. Certain connections to Thann in Alsace have been proven several times. But the name also appears in Bern in a tell book (tax register) from 1389.
In 1687, when a rotten leg had to be replaced, the name Hans von Thann was still mentioned. In 1732, however, J.R. Gruner in his volume Deliciae urbis Bernae calls him the Duke of Zäringen. This name remained in use for quite a long time, and only in more recent times has Hans von Thann become established again.