On 28/09/2011 the final event of this year’s election for the “Black Forest Clock of the Year” took place in the “Meckelhalle” of the Sparkasse Freiburg.
Over a period of 10 weeks, 14 Black Forest clocks from different manufacturers were exhibited and could be chosen by the visitors. The exhibition was supported by the Schwarzwald Tourismus GmbH, which provided not only the original exhibits from EXPO Shanghai 2010 but also plenty of information material about the entire Black Forest. Thus, their managing director Christopher Krull praised the good cooperation of the Black Forest Tourism with the Black Forest Clock Association and emphasized the importance of this worldwide known timepiece for the entire region.

Earlier, Savings Bank Director Erich Greil reported that no previous exhibition had attracted such an influx of visitors. Visitors lingered for an unusually long time to examine the clocks in great detail.
A greeting from the city of Freiburg was given by its city councilor Renate Buchen. She referred to the Expo, where it was the cuckoo clocks that attracted many hundreds of thousands of Chinese to the Freiburg presentation.
The 1st chairman of the VdS Ingolf Haas made the actual award ceremony. He took the opportunity to point out that a lot has happened in the cuckoo clock industry and innovations show that the “historic” creativity of the Black Forest people is still alive today.

A surprisingly large number of ballots, more than 1,300, were cast, Haas reported, which from experience indicates a much larger audience. He then asked the makers of the three most voted watches to take the stage. The company Hönes from Neustadt took 3rd place with a carved grandfather clock and the top two places this year went to Triberg. The company Hubert Herr succeeded with a small newly designed clock made of tree bark to inspire and could even top this with a Black Forest house that represents a bakery with moving figures. This clock may now call itself “Black Forest Clock of the Year”.

The extremely successful event was enhanced by the skills of the Triberg young pianist Enya Haas, who shone on the grand piano between the speeches and during the subsequent dinner. The 16-year-old artist, who is known for his performances at the Triberg Christmas Magic, played current pieces as well as his own compositions, which was rewarded by the approximately 150 guests with tremulous applause and cheers.