Time clock

About the sound

The time clock of the brand “Isgus” was used to record working hours on punch cards. Up until the 1950s, the company Viktor Chemical Works, a nitrogen plant in Castrop-Rauxel, used this clock to monitor the workers‘ hours. Today it belongs to the LWL-Industrial Museum's collection.
Although regulated and supervised working hours were instituted around 1820, it took over 100 years until this type of control clock was installed in factories on a large scale. The initial purpose was merely to record attendance, but it developed into a means to monitor the time as well. The working hours of the employees were supervised and precisely documented to the minute.
The sound of the time clock was heard every time the workers punched their cards. It accompanied them in their work rhythm and marked the beginning and end of their work shift.

Sound recordist: Konrad Gutkowski / Jonathan Nicolai
Photographer: Konrad Gutkowski / Jonathan Nicolai
Video recordist: Konrad Gutkowski / Jonathan Nicolai