Als wl bundesverdienstkreuz
25. November 2015, Ministerpraesident Stanislaw Tillich verleiht Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Walter Lange, c by Matthias Rietschel 00491723511011 www.rietschel-foto.de rietschel@verizon-press.de

Walter Lange honoured by German government

Walter Lange, the man who rebuilt his family’s watch brand following the fall of the Berlin Wall has been honoured with a German Order of Merit.

The ‘reward for courage and commitment’, was awarded to 91-year-old Lange in recognition of his services to re-establishing Saxony’s watchmaking industry and presented in Dresden by Stanislaw Tillich, Minister-President of the Free State of Saxony.

In its statement, the Order of Merit jury said: “Walter Lange’s work is one of the greatest entrepreneurial success stories since German reunification” and that Lange ‘did not only consider his own company, but always took into account the welfare of the watchmakers, their families and, in particular, his home town of Glashütte as well’.

Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, Lange sought to bring fine watchmaking back to Glashutte, establishing Lange Uhren and the brand A. Lange & Sohne. His great-grandfather, Adolf Lange, had introduced fine watchmaking as a specialist trade to the town in 1845.

The watches of A. Lange & Sohne are now available in more than 60 countries and the company has a workforce of more than 700. Glashutte is once again a centre of fine watchmaking.

James Buttery

Editor of WatchPro, the WatchPro Hot 100 and The Luxury Report.

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