Smiltene church clock restored after years of wrong time

The clock in the tower of Smiltene Evangelical Lutheran Church is once again showing the correct time after a new mechanism was installed this summer, LSM reported. The church congregation now plans to give the clock a distinctive sound.

The clock restoration cost approximately 20,000 euros. In recent years, the church has also had its roof replaced and its ceilings and historic wall paintings restored.

An old clock mechanism can still be seen in a small intermediate-floor room on the way up the church tower. Smiltene Church received it as a gift from Valmiera Church in the mid-19th century. The mechanism has large metal gears and substantial stone weights.

According to congregation board chair Gita Mūrniece, President Kārlis Ulmanis donated another clock mechanism in 1940. Its impulse was located in the consumer cooperative building. The clock worked only briefly because the building was burned down in 1944. From 1944 to 1989, the congregation told time by the stars because there was no clock.

Another mechanism was installed in the 1990s, but fluctuations and power cuts often caused it to show the wrong time.

The new mechanism installed this summer is a small metal box placed in a niche in the tower wall behind wooden doors. A modern control panel next to it displays the correct time and date. Mūrniece said the clock can also be monitored remotely through the panel.

The clock is currently operating in test mode and has been running for about three weeks. The congregation is still fine-tuning it and has asked people to report if it stops. Mūrniece said the clockmaker, Vladimir, described the installation as a complex mechanism and a unique project based on new ideas and modern solutions.