The 1815 pays tribute to Ferdinand A. Lange. Its name refers
to the birth year of the founder of the German precision watchmaking industry, a man whose fate was inextricably associated with the events before and after 1815.

Dramatic political occurrences had shaken the foundations of Europe until then. But finally, at the Congress of Vienna, a new order was adopted, so that the young man had the fortune to grow up in peaceful times, characterised by the industrial revolution. The brisk demand for well-trained technicians facilitated his enrolment at the Technical Institute of Education in Dresden, where he received an excellent education. Concurrently, the eager and talented Lange pursued an apprenticeship with Court Clockmaker Gutkaes.

Sympathy and compassion were among his noteworthy character traits. The destitution of the people in the Ore Mountains prompted him to establish a watch manufactory in Glashütte, so he not only brought wages and bread to the town but also laid the foundation for the German precision watchmaking industry. When he was later offered a peerage for this accomplishment, he politely declined saying that “a worthy man ennobles himself”.