🏛️ Lieu
Patrimoine & Culture
Méridienne de Rouffach
📍 Rouffach, Haut-Rhin
· Place de la République, 68250 Rouffach
À propos
The "Adam" clock in Rouffach is one of the most remarkable 19th century building clocks among those currently listed in Alsace. It was classified as a Historic Monument in 2003. The clock was originally supplemented by a meridian, a kind of sundial indicating noon solar time, which was used to adjust the clock.
This cast iron meridian, mentioned by U. Adam in the 1858 contract, no longer exists. All that remained of it were the old fixing bolts, located at a height of about 6 metres on the southern face of the south-western buttress of the South Tower. Since June 2006, it has been possible to reinstall an Adam's meridian at the original location on the front of the church.
Below you will find explanatory elements to help you understand how it works. These explanations are given by Mr. Poncelet, member of the Dasypodius Association. From time immemorial, men have tried to locate as accurately as possible the middle of the day, this "midday" associated with the time of the break, at mealtime. The "meridian" is a solar clock that makes it possible to determine this midday moment, the "true midday", the "solar midday", the one that effectively divides the day into two parts of equal duration, from sunrise to sunset. This instant corresponds to the highest position of the Sun in the sky (its culmination) and thus to its passage due south. Such a meridian is thus a sundial giving only the time of "noon". In fact, these meridians, which are still found on some buildings, were only used to adjust the mechanical clocks of bell towers, town halls and other public buildings, clocks whose mechanisms were still unreliable with irregular movements.
In Alsace, there were two types: the "Ungerer" type meridians found mainly in the Bas-Rhin region and the "U.Adam" type meridians built by the watchmaker Urbain Adam of Colmar. The most famous meridian is the one created by J.B. Schwilgué and installed at the south portal of the cathedral of Strasbourg for the adjustment of the famous astronomical clock.
The meridian is fixed on the front of the church.
This cast iron meridian, mentioned by U. Adam in the 1858 contract, no longer exists. All that remained of it were the old fixing bolts, located at a height of about 6 metres on the southern face of the south-western buttress of the South Tower. Since June 2006, it has been possible to reinstall an Adam's meridian at the original location on the front of the church.
Below you will find explanatory elements to help you understand how it works. These explanations are given by Mr. Poncelet, member of the Dasypodius Association. From time immemorial, men have tried to locate as accurately as possible the middle of the day, this "midday" associated with the time of the break, at mealtime. The "meridian" is a solar clock that makes it possible to determine this midday moment, the "true midday", the "solar midday", the one that effectively divides the day into two parts of equal duration, from sunrise to sunset. This instant corresponds to the highest position of the Sun in the sky (its culmination) and thus to its passage due south. Such a meridian is thus a sundial giving only the time of "noon". In fact, these meridians, which are still found on some buildings, were only used to adjust the mechanical clocks of bell towers, town halls and other public buildings, clocks whose mechanisms were still unreliable with irregular movements.
In Alsace, there were two types: the "Ungerer" type meridians found mainly in the Bas-Rhin region and the "U.Adam" type meridians built by the watchmaker Urbain Adam of Colmar. The most famous meridian is the one created by J.B. Schwilgué and installed at the south portal of the cathedral of Strasbourg for the adjustment of the famous astronomical clock.
The meridian is fixed on the front of the church.
