Brno’s New Clock
Brno residents are scratching their heads today trying to figure out how one is supposed to tell the time from the new $600,000 clock unveiled in Namesti Svobody (Freedom Square) in the city center this last weekend among much pomp and ceremony. The clock can best be described as resembling an unexploded WWII bomb!
Interestingly enough, the clock has been designed with a historical event in mind – that of the siege of Brno by Swedish forces in 1645. The clock delivers small glass balls to the waiting public every day at 11am. The small glass ball is apparently a reference to a figure from the time who gained a reputation for being unkillable and of which it was said only a glass ball could kill him! The ball is delivered at 11am as a reference to the story whereby the Swede commander was overheard telling his staff they would give up the siege by noon the next day. Brno citizens moved their clocks forward an hour to fool the Swedes and to this day the bells here toll at 11am as opposed to noon.
The clock was also unveiled in an elaborate ceremony featuring people dressed in historical clothing of the time and complete with musket volleys fired over the small crowd who had assembled to watch the event.
Despite that, it would seem no one can quite figure out this clock….. no one knows how you actually tell the time from it.
