When size matters: the biggest clock in Switzerland

May 29, 2020, No comments

It’s a simple question: what is the biggest clock in Switzerland? For a land that is famous for its timepieces, you’d think that the answer would be easy and well known. Think again.

I recently created a Swiss quiz for a company in Zurich, one with mainly Swiss employees. Everyone did very well, with over half the people getting 19 or 20 out of 20. In fact, there was only one question that caused problems. Big problems. I think you know which question.

Only 25% got it right, probably because the audience was in Zurich. One very famous clock in the city is often touted as the largest in the land: the one on St Peter’s church. But it isn’t. It misses out by a matter of 30cm, though it is the largest church clock in Europe.

The winner is the station clock in Aarau, with a diameter of 9 metres. That’s a smidge bigger than St Peter’s (8.7 metres) and the SBB clock at its HQ in Wankdorf outside Bern (7 metres). Even the Flower Clock in Geneva is only 5 metres.

When it comes to Swiss clocks, size really does matter. And 30cm makes all the difference.