Tick, tock – a sequence of letters that, when read, immediately creates an association in the mind and establishes a link with the associated device. But clocks that tick and tack, sometimes unpleasantly, have become rarer in urban areas – even if everyday life has by no means slowed down. Analogue clocks, such as those permanently installed in government offices, on church towers or in local and long-distance public transport buildings to reliably display the time, are becoming increasingly rare. Two veteran timepieces at the Olympiazentrum underground station, which have recently been replaced by digital copies, are sorely missed at the moment.
According to the Munich Transport Company (MVG), the two clock faces were replaced at the end of August. Although other underground stations – such as Hohenzollernplatz – have recently been fitted with digital clocks that ping rather than tick, the procedure is not a city-wide exchange program, according to the MVG. “We replace the watches if they are defective or if there are regular faults. Spare parts are no longer available for the old technology,” says a company spokesman. With digital clocks, faults would be recognized more quickly and could be eliminated more quickly. “In addition, the effort for maintenance and the time change is lower,” says the spokesman.
Sorely missed by many a subway passenger: the old dial clock in the same place.
(Photo: private)
The city council faction from the ÖDP and the Munich list – unlike the transport company – does not rate the exchange at the Olympiazentrum underground station as an improvement. “The two old clocks have always worked reliably without any noticeable failures, but the new clock on the north side of the station has not been working for two months,” says the justification for an application calling for the old clocks to be put up again. In addition, five stations on the U 3 Olympia line are under monument protection “because of their special historical and artistic significance”.
The MVG, in turn, refers to a regulation that allows it to carry out “elements of the station furniture and signage according to the current standard of the SWM/MVG”, which the passengers are used to. “As far as the exchange of clocks at these subway stations is concerned, there is a separate agreement with the responsible authorities,” says the MVG spokesman.
We therefore recommend the MVG website as a substitute to anyone who longs for the old numbering system. A banner runs relatively prominently on the start page, in which train cancellations and delays are listed. With one click, the time display can be switched from the digital clock to that with a dial and hands.