At an age when most people are retiring, Walter Lange took it upon himself to found a company. He was 66 years old when the reunification of Germany in 1990 gave him the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revitalise the manufactory of his forefathers. Within a period of only four years, he succeeded in bringing Germany’s most famous watch brand back to life.
With a small, committed team of ingenious engineers and watchmakers, Walter Lange and his partner, Günter Blümlein, were able to answer the question of what an A. Lange & Söhne watch should look like at the end of the 20th century. Together, they understood how to win over the people around them to achieve their ambitious goal of once again making the world’s best watches in his hometown of Glashütte.
With his unerring feel for style and quality, Walter Lange advocated for both the preservation of traditional craftsmanship and the development of technical innovations. As such, distinctive timepieces were created that held to a classic, artisan ideal, yet also featured state-of-the-art technology. They captured the zeitgeist of a time that had just rediscovered its fascination with mechanical watches. The best example of this is the LANGE 1, which has been the face of the brand since its release in the first collection. Both the outsize date and the decentralised dial arrangement were revolutionary at the time of their introduction.
Following a long series of watchmaking successes, A. Lange & Söhne has established itself as one of the most exclusive watch brands in more than 60 countries. The small pioneering team has grown into an internationally operating company with 770 employees. Since the presentation of the first collection, A. Lange & Söhne has launched a total of 62 manufacture calibres, including some of the most sophisticated complications. The extraordinary achievements of A. Lange & Söhne have been recognised with more than 250 international awards. None of this would have been possible without Walter Lange’s pioneering spirit and impressive work ethic, for which he was justly awarded the Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony in 1998 and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2015.
Walter Lange remained involved in the company he founded as a brand ambassador and consultant long after he withdrew from company management. Thanks to his courage, his vision, his critical spirit and his love for his fellow human beings, he was a role model for his employees and the entire world of watchmaking.
When time came home – 1815 “Homage to Walter Lange”
