KARACHI: Within the framework of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of German-Pakistani bilateral relations, as a project of cultural cooperation directed to the preservation of cultural heritage, the German Consulate General has taken up a support request by the Karachi Municipal Cooperation (KMC) to assist in repairs for the 1935 historical clock of the clock tower in the KMC building.
Since local expertise was not in a position to assure the required in-depth maintenance for full and reliable functioning of the tower clock, which led to a deterioration of its state and partial malfunction and functional limitations, the Consulate General reached out for support to the German master clockmaker “Perrot Tower Clocks and Bell Ringers”, in Calw near Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Perrot is particularly renowned for its installation of the World’s largest clock in the Abraj Al Bait Towers (Royal Clock Tower Hotel) in Makkah.
Perrot is an outstanding example of a typical German midsize, family-owned company that is a world champion in its field. As experts in tower clocks and bell ringing technology, the company—now in operation for more than 155 years—has had the same family ownership for five consecutive generations. Berthold Rapp, visiting master technician, stated that “in addition to the company’s current production and installation offers for tower clocks and wall dials, we apply expert workman skills and experience to the restoration of historical installations dating from the 1500s to present times. Old and new know-how are combined together to allow fully functional as well as esthetically restored projects.”
The German Consul General Holger Ziegeler added: “I am very happy to have obtained funds for this marvellous central timepiece of our metropolis. The visiting expert for revision and maintenance in close cooperation with KMC and its local clockmaker will, in addition to performing immediately possible repairs, present a status report of further options how to reliably operate the clock in the future.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021