Figure 6. — Certificate of apprenticeship awarded to Bartolomeo Antonio Bertolla upon 

 completion of his 3-year apprenticeship at Neulengbach, dated December 27, 1722. 



1 7 he was apprenticed to become a clockmaker with 

 the master, Johann Georg Butzjager of Neulengbach, 

 a small village on the edge of the great Vienna 

 woods. " This region was then part of the domain of 

 the Archduke of Austria, of which Sankt Polten was 

 the capital. 



Bertolla began his apprenticeship with Butzjager 

 under the auspices of the Corporation of Blacksmiths 

 of Sankt Polten in 1719. His training was supervised 

 by two master locksmiths, Johann Christian Winz 

 and Peter Wisshofer, who were members of the 

 Corporation, and were assigned to serve as patrons 

 for the apprentice. It was their obligation to make 

 certain that he received good care and adequate 



11 Pippa, "Antonio Bartolomeo Bertolla," pp. 22-23. 



instruction from his master. While he worked in 

 Butzjager 's shop, Bertolla lived with the master's 

 family in their home. 



Bertolla's 3 years at Neulengbach passed quickly 

 as he sought to absorb all that his master could 

 teach him. Butzjager was considered to be a good 

 craftsman in the region, yet today there is not even 

 a mention of his name in the lists of clockmakers. 

 He specialized in the production and repair of "great 

 clocks" which included tall-case, domestic timepieces, 

 and tower clocks. Butzjager treated his apprentice 

 well, and in return Bertolla rewarded him by being 

 diligent and honest. His subsequent work is suffi- 

 cient indication that he developed into an extremely 

 skilled craftsman, and he became the equal of any 

 clockmaker of his time. 



The 3 years of apprenticeship were completed and 



36 



BULLETIN 240: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



