on the hunt for a German cuckoo clock
You are in Frankonia right now. The cuckoo clock, however, is a product of the Blackforest region. No matter where you're looking for one, beware of cheesy Chinese "interpretations". Here are a few manufacturers of the genuine article:
Anton Schneider & Söhne, Schonach
Rombach & Haas, Schonach
Robert Herr, Schonach
Helmut Kammerer, Schonach
Hubert Herr, Triberg
Hönes GmbH, Titisee-Neustadt
August Schwer, Schönwald
Engstler e.G., Villingen
Be sure there is as much carved wood / wooden parts as possible on the clock; even those manufacturers use more or less plastic to satisfy the demand for cheap souvenirs. It might be a paying proposition to drive to Schonach and talk to these people live. Then on to Freiburg and home via Strasbourg.
Schonach is also home to the "1st Original World's Largest Cuckoo Clock":
https://blog.deutsches-uhrenmuseum.de/2017/07/05/weltgroesste-kuckucksuhren/
As luck would have it, there is a "Uhrenstraße" ("Road of the Clocks") to follow :-)
In any event, bring cash, lots of cash.
You know, you're giving away some of the information thats coming up in my next articles... ;) hahahaha. No worries though, I appreciate the info.
Yeah, luckily I did some research before the trip. There were soooo many clocks in some of the towns and I noticed some vendors trying to be tricky with their signs to convince buyers of things that they aren't. Mimicking certain seals and certificates. I wasn't aware of the road of clocks or the largest cuckoo clock. That sounds very interesting. I'll check out that blog.
:-) Here is a searchable site with prices in English. You can search by manufacturer:
https://www.cuckoopalace.com/Carved-Cuckoo-Clocks:::35.html
Oh great, thanks. I looked at the article of the giant clocks. That's really cool. Their basically houses lol.