a watchmaking industry in Saxony. He returned to Dresden in 1841 and became partners with his master's business. Lange wasted no time in building complicated watches to put into practice what he learnt through his journey years, which all noted in his notebook. His main ambition was the industrialization of the area and become independent as he made verbal proposals in a letter he sent to the government minister Von Lindenau and councillor Weissenbach. His ambition was to found a watch manufactory in Saxony. He asked a commission from the government to grant him a business licence in the less economically fortunate region, “Erzgebirge” (Ore Mountains) in Glashütte. Mentions in the letter as follows: “…Should the high council be able and willing to grand the wherewithal for the establishment of an institution and the welfare of 10-15 young people, and to entrust me with its leadership, I am certain that in a near future, livelihood and prosperity will spread among a large number of these unfortunate people…” On 7 December 1845, he founded A. Lange & Cie, which later became A. Lange & Söhne in Glashütte. Lange founded not only a watchmaking factory that would bear his name; he also established his vision for an entire industry. Starting with a team of 15 apprentices, to whom he taught the basics of watchmaking. Later on, when they had thoroughly mastered the crafts, he encouraged them to leave his company to start their own small supplier firms. Thus, he established a watchmaking cluster, which provided the region with a new means to make a living. As Ferdinand Adolph Lange travelled through France he saw French watchmakers still used duodecimal ligne as length unit instead of the new metric system. Accordingly, he recorded detailed calculations for each individual gear-wheel size. Returning from his travels, he started to use the metric system in watchmaking instead of the traditional norm, ligne. Soon after, he built his first micrometer in Dresden from the plans in his journey book. It could measure millimeters to the thousandth. Along with a measurement system, he invented various tools like hand-powered face-lathe to slide-rules and dixieme gauges. Rise to fame In 1868, Ferdinand A. Lange's elder son Richard entered the company, and the company name changed to A. Lange & Söhne (A. Lange & Sons). He had seven children and also took on political responsibility in his home town: He was