Tutima Glashütte

Tutima's history begins in 1927 when Dr. Ernst Kurtz, a jurist from Hamburg, established two companies from the bankrupt Deutsche Präzisions-Uhrenfabrik (DPUG): Uhren-Rohwerke-Fabrik Glashütte AG (UROFA) for movement production and Uhrenfabrik Glashütte AG (UFAG) for finished watches. Dr. Kurtz recognized the future lay in wristwatches rather than pocket watches and modernized production using Swiss-style automated manufacturing techniques. In 1941, Tutima created the pilot's chronograph powered by the in-house Caliber 59, the first German chronograph with a flyback function (called 'Tempostopp'). Between 1941-1945, approximately 30,000 units were manufactured for the German Air Force. Dr. Kurtz's brother Walter, a test pilot, helped validate the watches under real conditions. On May 8, 1945, Glashütte was bombed and subsequently stripped by Soviet forces. Dr. Kurtz fled to West Germany, taking skilled craftsmen with him. He eventually settled in Ganderkesee near Bremen in 1951, producing watches under 'Kurtz Glashütter Tradition.' After financial difficulties in 1956, Werner Pohlan took over and renamed the company Nurofa, reactivating the Tutima brand. Around 1960, Dieter Delecate, a close associate of both Pohlan and Dr. Kurtz, acquired the company and renamed it Tutima Uhren GmbH. The Delecate family guided Tutima through the quartz crisis and achieved a major triumph in 1984-1985 when the Military Chronograph ref. 798 was chosen as the official pilot's watch for NATO and the German Bundeswehr, beating competitors including IWC and Breitling. Following German reunification, Dieter Delecate pursued his dream of returning to Glashütte. In 2005, the family purchased property in the town, and in 2011 officially opened a new manufacture. Today, the company is run by Dieter Delecate alongside his children Jörg (Managing Director) and Ute (Marketing and PR Director), making it one of the few truly independent family-owned German watch manufacturers.