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Mühle-Glashütte

A Glashütte family firm that began by making measuring instruments for the town’s watchmakers. Twice expropriated in East Germany, it was re-established in 1994 to make marine chronometers, and wristwatches followed.

Founded 1869; re-established 1994, Glashütte, Saxony, Germany, Owned by The Mühle family

Two gold medals in an open leather case lined with blue silk; the lid is printed "Ehrenpreis der Stadt Dresden, Ausstellung des Sächsischen Handwerks und Kunstgewerbes, Dresden 1896".
The City of Dresden's prize awarded to Robert Mühle & Sohn at the 1896 exhibition of Saxon crafts, in the German Watch Museum Glashütte.3 Photograph: Derbrauni. Cropped here. View full original at Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab) · 1,816 × 1,672 px; CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

Gauges, speedometers and two expropriations

Robert Mühle trained as a precision toolmaker with Moritz Grossmann and opened his own workshop on April 22, 1869, making the measuring instruments the Glashütte watch firms and the German School of Watchmaking needed. His dial gauges read to a thousandth of a millimetre.1, 2

His sons joined in 1905, when the firm became R. Mühle & Sohn, and from 1918 or 1919 it added speedometers, rev counters and car clocks, for Horch and DKW cars and BMW motorcycles among others.1, 2

After the Second World War the firm was expropriated and dismantled with the rest of the town’s industry, and its remains went to the Zeiss works in Jena. In December 1945 Robert’s grandson Hans Mühle started again in the same building, making mechanisms for pressure and temperature gauges.1, 2

That private firm passed to his son Hans-Jürgen in 1970, was nationalised in 1972 and in 1980 absorbed into VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe, where Hans-Jürgen Mühle went on to run sales, marine chronometers included. In 1990 he was one of five managing directors who steered GUB into the market economy; that turn is told under Glashütte after reunification.1, 2

A time line of Mühle-Glashütte from 1869 to today. Based in: Glashütte from 1869. Owned by: The Mühle family from 1869 to 1972, The Mühle family from 1994. Dots mark the key dates.
Where Mühle-Glashütte has been based and who has owned it, from 1869 to today. The dots are its key dates.1, 2

Back on its own, from ships’ clocks to wristwatches

He left GUB and on April 1, 1994, started Mühle-Glashütte GmbH nautische Instrumente und Feinmechanik with two employees, making marine chronometers and ships’ time systems for shipyards he knew from his GUB years. In 1995 a shipyard customer asked for robust wristwatches, and watchmaking began.1, 2

A modern company building beside a road at the entrance to a town, with a town sign and wooded valley slopes behind.
The Mühle-Glashütte building on Altenberger Straße, May 2025.4 Photograph: SchiDD. View full original at Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab) · 3,230 × 2,153 px; CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab). Adapted; shared alike.

Its early watches used Swiss movements, and in the 2000s NOMOS took Mühle to court over whether they had enough Glashütte work in them to carry the town’s name. The case drove Mühle into insolvency; an insolvency plan saved it, and the dispute helped set the precedent for protecting the name, now law and explained under Origin labels.2, 5, 6

Thilo Mühle, who joined in 2000, has led the company since 2007. It introduced its own three-quarter plate, a Glashütte feature, in 2008, and in 2024 Thilo Mühle’s son and daughter joined the management.1, 2

Key dates

  1. 1869

    Robert Mühle opens his workshop in Glashütte on April 22.1

  2. 1905

    The firm becomes R. Mühle & Sohn.1

  3. 1945

    Expropriation; in December Hans Mühle starts a new private firm.1, 2

  4. 1972

    The firm is nationalised.1, 2

  5. 1980

    Absorbed into VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe.1, 2

  6. 1994

    Hans-Jürgen Mühle re-establishes the company on April 1.1, 2

  7. 1995

    Wristwatch production begins.1

  8. 2007

    Thilo Mühle takes over the management.1, 2

  9. 2008

    Mühle’s own three-quarter plate arrives.1

Where Mühle-Glashütte leads

  • Formerly owned by, GroupVEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe (GUB)

    The nationalised Mühle firm was absorbed into VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe in 1980.1, 2

  • Based in, PlaceGlashütte

    The Mühle family firm has worked in Glashütte since the nineteenth century and was re-established there in 1994.1, 2

  • See also, PersonMoritz Grossmann

    Robert Mühle trained as a precision toolmaker with Moritz Grossmann before setting up his own workshop.1, 2

  • See also, EventGlashütte after reunification

    Re-established on 1 April 1994 by Hans-Jürgen Mühle, one of the works’ managing directors of 1990.1, 2

Elsewhere in Watch Vault

Facts and sources

Founded
1869; re-established 19941, 2
Founder
Robert Mühle1, 2
Founded in
Glashütte, Saxony, Germany1, 2
Owner
The Mühle family1
Official site
muehle-glashuette.de (opens in a new tab)1

Sources

  1. 1

    History (opens in a new tab), Mühle-Glashütte, official

  2. 2

    Mühle-Glashütte (opens in a new tab), Wikipedia (German), independent

  3. 3

    The City of Dresden's prize awarded to Robert Mühle & Sohn at the 1896 exhibition of Saxon crafts, in the German Watch Museum Glashütte. (opens in a new tab), Wikimedia Commons, public record

  4. 4

    The Mühle-Glashütte building on Altenberger Straße, May 2025. (opens in a new tab), Wikimedia Commons, public record

  5. 5

    IN-DEPTH: The history of the Glashütte watch region (opens in a new tab), Time+Tide, independent

  6. 6

    Glashütteverordnung (GlashütteV): Verordnung zum Schutz der geografischen Herkunftsangabe “Glashütte” (opens in a new tab), Bundesministerium der Justiz / Bundesamt für Justiz, official

Sources read November 11, 2026.