Lund astronomical clock, occasionally and at least since the 16th century referred to as Horologium mirabile Lundense (Latin: "the wonderful clock in Lund"), is a 15th-century astronomical clock in Lund Cathedral. Mentioned in written sources for the first time in 1442, it was probably made and installed sometime around 1423–1425, possibly by Nikolaus Lilienfeld. It is part of a group of related medieval astronomical clocks found in the area around the south Baltic Sea. In 1837 the clock was dismantled. Between 1909 and 1923, it was restored by the Danish clockmaker Julius Bertram-Larsen and the Swedish architect responsible for the upkeep of the cathedral, . From the old clock, the face of the clock as well as the mechanism, which was largely replaced during the 18th century, was salvaged and re-used. The casing, most parts of the calendar which occupies the lower part, and the middle section were made anew.
The clock displays a medieval concept of time, based on a geocentric idea of the universe, and is decorated with religious symbols. It is possible to determine the current time of the day, the current lunar phase, the current position of the sun in the zodiac as well as the current date of the year and related information, from the clock. The current perpetual calendar spans from 1923 to 2123.
Two times every day, the mechanism of the clock triggers a parade of statues representing the Three Kings across the face of the astronomical clock, while a built-in organ plays the medieval tune In dulci jubilo.
History
Origins
Tree-ring dating of the wood used for the calendar face of the clock in 1996 led to the conclusion that the wood used for the clock was oak wood cut sometime between 1417 and 1428. Researchers have also been able to determine that the wood came from oak trees that had grown in Pomerania in present-day Poland. The clock is mentioned in written sources for the first time in 1442. The time between 1375 and 1475 saw the construction of astronomical clocks in churches in several cities in the area around the western Baltic Sea. Apart from Lund, very similar astronomical clocks have existed, and in a few cases still exist, in Doberan, Gdańsk, Lübeck, Münster, Rostock, Stendal, Stralsund and Wismar. This constitutes a group of astronomical clocks unique in both numbers and quality, although only the Stralsund clock and the Rostock clock have been preserved more or less intact. Of the clocks in this group, the ones in Doberan and Stralsund are the most similar to Lund's clock, and it is possible that the clockmaker Nikolaus Lilienfeld who made the clock in Stralsund also made the clock in Lund. A detail not found in any other of these clocks is two wooden knights who also function as jacquemarts, striking their swords against each other to mark the full hour. The jacquemarts on the astronomical clock in Wells Cathedral in England is the only other known example of such a decoration. It has therefore been speculated that the jacquemarts in Lund are a reflection of English influences conveyed via the Queen of Denmark, Philippa of England, who is known to have been personally engaged in the upkeep of the cathedral.
It is possible that the clock was manufactured in order to be installed in time for the 300th anniversary celebration of the consecration of the cathedral's main altar in 1423. A new, minor church bell was hung in the south tower in 1425, and as the clock would originally have been connected with a bell it is possible that the clock was installed in connection with this. The clock has also been assumed to be from the first decades of the 15th century on stylistic grounds. It was previously thought, due to a more superficial stylistic comparison Wåhlin made with the choir stalls of Lund Cathedral, to have been from the 1380s.
Several written records mention the clock in the following centuries: it is, for example, compared with the Strasbourg astronomical clock in the Encyclopédie in 1779. It appears to have been non-functional already by the 17th century, however. In 1836 it is described by Carl Georg Brunius as being in a bad condition, and in 1837 it was removed from the cathedral.