Why are there so many public clocks in Prague?

We were in Prague a few weeks ago and had planned to visit the fantastic microbrand watch shop Infinitywatches (I’ll be writing a review in the next few days). Watches were one of our main goals, and perhaps that’s why—or maybe even the main reason—we noticed the countless public clocks in Prague.

We were, of course, at the astronomical clock, and at some point started photographing the many great—and sometimes almost absurd-looking—clocks in the cityscape. On my next city trips, I’ll pay attention to see if other cities have as many public clocks, and not just on town halls and churches. But especially in Berlin, we noticed far fewer clocks, even now after our return, when we were looking for them.

I’ve seen a few luxury watch boutiques with wall clocks on their facades in other cities, but it was really lovely to see that almost every watch shop in Prague has one outside. And each one is more beautiful than the last.

I did a little research, but I still haven’t found a good answer to the question of why Prague has so many public clocks. I’ll ask again on the Prague Reddit; maybe someone there can point me in the right direction, and then I’ll update this post.