️⭐ B. Ketterer & Sons B. Ketterer Söhne has a particularly interesting history because it evolved from a Black Forest clockmaking business into one of Germany's pioneering makers of gas and water meters.Furtwangen · Black Forest

The company was founded by Benedikt Ketterer (1805-1871) in Furtwangen, Black Forest, Germany. Benedikt Ketterer initially worked in the region's traditional clockmaking industry, buying and trading Black Forest clocks, before establishing a mechanical workshop in Furtwangen in 1845.

🏭 Produced:

- Impeller Wheel Water Meter (D.R.P.)

- Remote-reading rotary-current meters - Rotary-current multi-tariff meters “Flügelrad-Wassermesser” literally means “impeller-wheel water meter” or “vane-wheel water meter.”

“D.R.P.” stands for “Deutsches Reichspatent” (German Imperial Patent).

Furtwangen is a town in Germany's Black Forest (Schwarzwald) region, known historically for precision instruments and clockmaking.

The pictured advertisement appears to promote both water meters and electricity meters manufactured by B. Ketterer Söhne, a German instrument maker established in 1832. The water meter illustrated is an early impeller-type design.

During the mid-19th century, the company manufactured:

- Black Forest clocks

- Precision regulators

- Mechanical timing devices

Ketterer was an inventive engineer as well as a clockmaker. Recognizing the growing importance of municipal gas networks, he began producing gas meters in the 1850s, reportedly supplying some of the earliest examples to Freiburg. This was a pioneering industry for the Black Forest region. 1871 Water Clock + Baduf

Felix Ketterer had been working in his father's company since the 1860s, which he took over after the death of Benedikt Ketterer in 1871. Felix Ketterer pushes the production of water meters. In 1873, he outsourced the production of Black Forest clocks and fine regulators to the Badische Uhrenfabrik, whose technical director he became in personal union. Felix Ketterer now calls the BKS "First Baden Water Knife Factory". He also manufactures gas clocks, but also numbering and counting mechanism ⭐ Felix Ketterer and the Meter Business

After Benedikt's death in 1871, his son Felix Ketterer (1847-1911) took over the company. Under his leadership:

- Clock production expanded initially.

- The company employed around 100 workers and apprentices by the 1870s.

- The business increasingly focused on gas and water meters rather than clocks.

By about 1890, clock production had largely ceased, and the firm's principal products were:

- Gas meters

- Water meters

- Counting and registering mechanisms

The company became known as the"First Baden Water Meter Factory" ("Erste Badische Wassermesserfabrik").

The advertisement pictured is from this period of diversification. The"Flügelrad-Wassermesser" (impeller-wheel water meter) was one of Ketterer's important products. These meters were sold in various sizes and were aimed at the rapidly expanding municipal water supply systems of Germany and Europe.

🧭 20th Century Evolution

According to the company's own historical timeline, the firm subsequently diversified into:

- Electrical measuring equipment

- Radio-related products

- Sunshade and building-control mechanisms

- Industrial drive systems

- Ergonomic lifting and motion-control products

Modern Company

Today the company survives as Benedikt Ketterer Söhne GmbH & Co. KG in Furtwangen. Rather than making water meters, it specializes in:

- Linear actuators

- Electric drive systems

- Gear technology

- Ergonomic lifting systems and industrial motion solutions