Glashütte Original has one of the most spectacular stories in the entire watch industry. It doesn't start with a founder trying to create a better world with his watches, but with the German state. But to start with: In 1951, after the division of Germany, it was passed that all watch companies in the city of Glashütte would be merged into a state-owned GDR company, the GUB: Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe. This is how globally respected brands such as A Lange and Söhne, Union and many more became one. Only after reunification did the rights to the individual brands go back to their descendants, including Lange. The GUB was privatized by Heinz Pfeifer in 1994 and renamed Glashütte Original GmbH with around 2,000 employees. The first Glashütte Original watches came onto the market in 1995. The most successful include, for example, the Senator, PanoMatic and the SeaQ, which, among other things, were acquired in the Swatch Group takeover in 2000.