Zimmer tower

The Zimmer tower is a tower in Lier, Belgium, also known as the Cornelius tower, that was originally a keep of Lier's fourteenth century city fortifications. In 1930, astronomer and clockmaker Louis Zimmer 1888–1970 built the Jubilee Clock, which is displayed on the front of the tower, and consists of 12 clocks encircling a central one with 57 dials. These clocks showed time on all continents, phases of the moons, times of tides and many other periodic phenomena. In 1980 the tower became a state-protected monument. The original tower was built no later than 1425, though the precise date of construction is unknown. In 1812 the tower was sold by the municipal authorities, but after World War I, they repurchased it and slated it for demolition. In 1930 astronomer and clockmaker Louis Zimmer donated a complex clock which was installed in the old tower, which had to be substantially

reconstructed for this. In honor of the astronomer the structure was renamed the Zimmer tower. In 1960 a pavilion for the new clock was built next to the tower to present Zimmer's masterpiece the wonder-clock. Dutch: Wonderklok. These wonder-clocks were prepared for the 1935 world exhibition in Brussels; later they were demonstrated in the U.S.. Around one of these dials moves the slowest pointer in the world - its complete revolution will take 25800 years, which corresponds to the period of the precession of the Earth's axis. Subsequently, Zimmer attached to the clocks a mechanical planetarium. The wonder-clocks impressed Albert Einstein, who congratulated Zimmer on the creation of these unusual mechanisms.