Muhle Watches; Muhle-Glashutte
Mühle-Glashütte was founded in 1994 by Hans-Jürgen Mühle, father of the current CEO Thilo Mühle. In total, the family can look back on a more than 140-year history in Glashütte. Because the roots of the family business dates back five generations - from the year 1869, when Robert Mühle founded his own company in Glashütte, manufacturing precision measuring instruments for the local watch industry and watchmaker school. Robert was born in 1841 in Lauenstein and and trained then worked as a tool manufacturer for watch maker Moritz Grossmann. By 1869 he founded his own company in Glashütte. As a tool maker he focused on quality and began by making precision measuring instruments for the Glashütte watch company. Paul, Max and Alfred Mühle, the sons of Robert Mühle joined the company and the focus on precision expanded. By 1925 other precise measuring devices began to be made such as speedometers, revolution counters and car clocks. Tachometers also became a large part of the business as they began to supply brands like BMW. World War II broke out and devastated the company as the Soviet Air Force bombed Glashütte and the Mühle company was hit. Hans Mühle founded the new company in December 1945 focusing on precision in manufactured dial trains for pressure and temperature measuring instruments. The company did well and Hans-Jürgen Mühle, Hans' son, took over his fathers business. The company continued until it was transformed in 1980 when it was converted into the Glashütte Watchmaking Plants (VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe). In 1994, he founded "Mühle-Glashütte GmbH nautische Instrumente und Feinmechanik" (nautical instruments and precision engineering) reuniting the Muhle name. The company began its focus on past staples such as ship's timepieces and other nautical instruments before mechanical wristwatches. The growth rate of the wristwatches led to it quickly becoming the main business of the company. After a lawsuit with Nomos Glashutte Thilo Mühle joined the family business and in October 2007 he took over management of the company to pull it from bankruptcy. Thilo expanded its vertical integration and patented new watchmaking ideas and continued to grow the company.
