22-Nov-2015

For the fortunate no bell tolls

Already as a child the administratrix couldn´t understand at all why there should be only and of all things on the west side of the Palas of castle Grünsberg a sundial. It begins showing the time at
1.00 o´clock p.m. and ends at 7:oo o´clock p.m. Does one need no time in the morning? And then I found in the Stromer archives in the inventory of ~1920 the hint: sundial east, lost. While restoring the eastern parapet walk I found an odd diagonal line at the east side of the Palas. This made clear a former sundial must have been there!
I asked our restorer for the costs of repainting the sundial. Sadly the costs were out of our reach and we wouldn´t get any grants for this project! And I in my naivity had thought it being sufficient if one went up a simple ladder (20 m high!) every hour through one whole morning and made a line for the actual time. Alas project dead! In 2015 the trusts second director, Prof. Peter Fleischmann, had his 60th anniversary and he asked only for gifts for the castle from his guests.Hhere once again, thank you, dear Prof. Fleischmann! And lo and behold there was suddenly sufficient money for the sundial! After some councils with our architect, Frau Karin Windisch, and our restorer, Herr Eberhard Holter, I wrote to the Nuremberg astronomical society asking for a sundial expert. Therefore came Dipl.Ing. Gerhard Meiler climbing the scaffoldspecially errected for this purpose again and again for to afterwards climb down and hurry into the outer yard to look at and aim onto the west sundial. Chapeau for this athletic performance! After quite a lot of complicated calculations he oould make a template for the restorer in scale 1:1. And he could exactely tell our blacksmith how he should manufacture the brackets to throw the shadow for the time.

According to his specifications the brackets have been manufactured and in his presence fixed onto the Palas´ wall onto the right depth and into the right angle.
And then came the time for the restorer, who -with much patience and love- painted a fluttering band "Tempus fugit" onto the wall and a second little band to "fix" it below the roof. Finally on the 22nd of
November 2015, punctually at 10.30 a.m. the sundia lcould be inaugurated in the presence of Prof. Fleischmann and his birthday guests; our sundial threw its first shadow!
Probably it is the only proper working sundial in the whole region, because sundials after the second world war have been repainted just so, without further exact calculations, onto the rebuilt houses. And why all this effort as we have a proper working tower clock since 1542? Easily explained: the tower clock´s mechanical clockwork didn´t work exactly enough andnot work longer than 24 hours because of the height of the clock tower and therefore the length of the cords of the weights. Than it had to be rewound again. And on sunny days it could be resetted after the sundial.
For me nearly the best, my rose "Miranda" situated below the scaffold for four month survived this mistredment without damage and is flowering and smelling without any difficulties!