The people who live in Saxony are artists, thinkers, inventors, and craftsmen. Due to their unique creativity and excellence in their professional attitude, they have formed and shaped a unique and unique Saxony. . Lange’s ‘Hometown of Craftsmen: The Saxony and Lange Precision Watch Exhibition in Germany’ will be officially unveiled this weekend, passing more than 80 Saxon-themed photography works by famous contemporary Chinese photographer Mr. Xiaowei Wei and Lange Five More than 40 watch pieces in the series of watch families show the inextricable relationship between the Saxon civilization and the Lange brand with unique clues.
Florence on the Elbe
Dresden
Photography: Xiaowei Wei
Mathematical Physics Salon
Photography: Xiaowei Wei
Dresden, the capital of the Free State of Saxony, is a magnificent Baroque city, known as ‘Florence on the Elbe’. Although it was devastated in the twentieth century, and it was ruined in the former East Germany, it never lost its royal heritage and rich cultural heritage. It is a famous historical and cultural city in Germany. Earlier than 5000 BC, there were traces of human activity in the Elbe Valley. Due to the rare rich geological resources and stone mineral resources in the river valley area, it once became the geomantic treasure of the Saxony electorate. Later, it experienced the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), plague and fire initiated by the Holy Roman Empire. The devastated Dresden lingered. Until the eighteenth century, under the wise leadership of the ‘Power King’ August II (1670-1733), Saxony resumed prosperity and has since become a mecca for German music literature and architecture.
Auguste II is a man who loves culture and art, especially fascinated by superb craftsmanship and mechanical devices. His royal collection during his lifetime includes precision instruments, paintings and Chinese porcelain, which are difficult for other cities to this day. Matching. With his promotion and encouragement, the talented Saxony opened a new chapter in art and science. It is both a city of culture and art and a capital of precision instruments, such as Langer’s founder Ferdinando Adolf Lange ( Ferdinand Adolph Lange) and his master Gut Case are well-known representatives of Dresden’s precision instrument industry, and have long been recorded in history.
The Salon of Mathematical Physics, located in the Zwinger Palace in Dresden, is a treasure trove of art collections of more than 3,000 Saxon royal scientific collections. In that year, August II divided the royal family’s countless scientific treasures, including a variety of precision devices and equipment, such as observation of astronomical phenomena, measurement technology and calculation time, into one place and passed down from generation to generation. Since August II, the Saxony royal family attaches great importance to science and technology, and often encourages precision scientists and astronomers to dare to innovate, so that royal watchmaker Gut Case and his disciples Adolf Lange, in the land of Saxony , To create watch art that is proud of the world.
The gem of humanities and arts
Semper Opera House
Photography: Xiaowei Wei
Wagner Pocket Watch
Photography: Xiaowei Wei
Saxony has bred a lot of outstanding talents. They are exceptionally talented and have made outstanding contributions to Saxony’s cultural tradition and technology. Especially during the Wettin Dynasty, talents flourished, and there were many watchmaking geniuses such as Gutkees and Adolf Lange, as well as classical music master Wagner, architect Semper, and children’s literature writer Eli. Heike Kestner and many other skilled artisans have left a very representative cultural heritage for the Saxony land.
The Semper Opera House, which is adjacent to the Zwinger Palace and echoes the Holy Trinity, is named after its architectural designer Gottfried Semper (1803-1879). Revival style, court music theater with Collins stigma and carved Baroque. Gutkez, then the watchmaker of the Saxony palace, led his disciples Adolf Lange over the stage of the Semper Opera House to build a world-famous five-minute digital clock, which witnessed many well-known opera works. Richard Wagner (1813-1883), who broke the stalemate of traditional opera and laid the cornerstone of modern opera, was the court royal musician of the Semper Opera House. He has 9 operas including two early works ‘Lien ‘Jieji’ and ‘The Wandering Dutchman’ both made their successful debut at the Opera Semper. Because of his grandeur and great spirit of reform, he was highly respected by Ludwig II of Bavaria’s ‘Fairy King’.
In Lange’s history, in 1878, a very exquisite ‘Wagner pocket watch’ was customized for Ludwig II. Through gorgeous enamel painting, he described Wagner’s most brilliant opera, ‘The Ring of Nibelungen’ Five scenes. In fact, Wagner created this masterpiece with the support of Ludwig II. Later, Ludwig II gave this ‘Wagner Pocket Watch’ to his favorite tenor Heinrich Fogel, who played a major role in the opera. This ‘Wagner pocket watch’ not only represents the watchmaking art of the Lange peak period, but also symbolizes the era of Saxony’s peak culture.
Lange’s Hometown
Handmade Instrument Workshop
Photography: Xiaowei Wei
August Horch Museum
Photography: Xiaowei Wei
Saxony is not only a paradise for human history and natural beauty, but also a place where traditional craftsmanship and precision science are passed on. Among the lush mountains and forests of Saxony, there is a string training school unique in Europe, and it is training about twenty students from around the world with considerable potential to make violin and guitar. The fiddle is a very complicated sounding body, and gradually evolved into a perfect musical artwork after centuries of evolution. Traditional piano makers must have a 100% understanding of wood, accumulate rich experience in piano making, and have meticulous fingertips. At the same time, he is proficient in physics, electroacoustics, surveying and psychology, so that the sound quality of the handmade violin is perfect. In addition, it is necessary to study Western music history, natural history, historical methodology, and art history in order to integrate culture into the process of making piano and inherit it. In this school, students can not only master the exquisite piano making, but also appreciate the rigorous style and unreserved professionalism rooted in the German people’s life.
In addition to superb traditional craftsmanship, German industry is also a perfect embodiment of Saxony’s never-ending, continuous improvement, and advancing with the times. Since the twentieth century, Saxony has been an important base for scientific research and development in Germany. It is also an important industrial manufacturing center in Germany. It has repeatedly innovated in the fields of microelectronic technology, power engineering and life sciences. Among them, Saxony’s auto industry is particularly dazzling, and manufacturers such as Porsche, BMW and Volkswagen Phaeton have settled here, making Saxony a leading production base in the automotive industry. Looking back at the century-old history of German automobile manufacturing, there is a legend that cannot be ignored. In the 1930s, when the European economy was in recession, August Horch led several Saxony automobile companies to form the ‘Automobile Union Group’ in 1932. Thanks to his bright intelligence and smooth connections, The company was able to rapidly expand its overseas business and its reputation spread far, making Saxony Zwickau a leap into a century-old automobile city in Germany. To commemorate this legend, Zwickau’s ‘Audi Car Museum’ is also known as the August Horch Museum.
Saxony, the former kingdom, and now the Free State, was once a gem of eastern Germany, and flourished in the glory of the Wetting dynasty; it was also the place to witness the history of humanity. Nirvana was reborn after being ruthlessly destroyed by war. In the same storms and hardships, Lange has been rooting and growing in Saxony since 1845. Despite hardships, he was fortunate to be successfully restored and defend its reputation as the world’s top watch brand.
‘Hometown of Craftsmen: Saxony and Lange Precision Watchmaking Exhibition in Germany’
Date: April 1, 2017 to April 9, 2017
Location: The 3rd floor of The Ritz-Carlton, Pudong
Address: Shanghai IFC Center, 8 Century Avenue, Lujiazui, Shanghai
Opening hours: 11: 00-21: 00
About 逄 小威
Born in Beijing in 1956, he began to concentrate on photography in 1997. Xiaowei Wei is a well-known contemporary Chinese photographer, a member of the Chinese Photographers Association, a member of the Royal Photographic Society of China, and a special picture photographer invited by China Central Television’s film channel, sports channel, and the National Grand Theatre. His works have been collected by many institutions such as the National Museum of China, the National Art Museum of China, the Chinese Film Museum, and the Shanghai Art Museum.
In 2015, Xiaowei Wei invested in shooting projects initiated by Lange, Germany, from Dresden to Leipzig, from Chemnitz to Glashütte. After more than a month, he traveled throughout Saxony. From the calm perspective of onlookers, Xiaowei Wei has taken thousands of breathtaking works on Saxony’s nature, history, humanities, business traditions and characters.
In April 2016, the ‘Saxony: The Home of German Craftsmanship-Wu Xiaowei Photography Exhibition’, curated by the President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Fan Di’an, sponsored by China Guangming Daily, and sponsored by Lange, Germany, was successfully held at the National Art Museum of China.