( CNN ) -- After the fall of the Berlin Wall , East Germany lay in shambles as many businesses went bankrupt and millions of people lost their jobs . Some firms , however , got back on their feet and revived the `` Made in Germany '' trademark by harnessing the expertise of their workers . Their aim was to become , once again , a global brand . CNN travelled to the town of Glashütte in Saxony , known as the birthplace of the German watchmaking tradition . Here , watchmakers such as A. Lange & Söhne and Nomos Glashütte among others have thrived since the fall of the Wall and have since exported their high-end watches to the rest of the world . German craftsmanship . It is companies like these which put their personal , unique stamp on a timeless piece which is n't assembled overnight , explained A. Lange & Söhne . `` It takes about four weeks for a watchmaker to put this piece together . And to learn to do this you need about five to ten years of experience , '' said Marco Wolf , a watchmaker at A. Lange & Söhne , one of the longest-running high-end watchmakers in the world . The hand-crafted timepieces , all mechanical and made with microscopic precision , are carefully created in the former Communist town of Glashütte . `` That is what our customers appreciate . The love for details striving for perfection . All that with typical German attributes like solidity , cleanliness , understatement . I think that combination is what drives people and what makes them our customers , '' said Wilhelm Schmid , CEO of A. Lange & Söhne . Attention to detail goes beyond the surface , according to Schmid , who describes how even tiny parts of the watch the customer will never see are engraved . `` And each engraver has his or her own signature style , '' he added . All in the family . The company 's namesake , Ferdinand Adolf Lange , founded Glashütte 's watchmaking tradition in 1845 . The industry flourished and for over a century Glashütte was Germany 's watchmaking capital . But all that changed after World War II , when Glashütte suddenly found itself in the Communist east part of Germany . All the watchmaking companies were nationalized and forced to build cheap watches , some of which were secretly sold in the West . After the fall of the Berlin Wall , much of the watch industry was able to get back on its feet , explained Schmid . `` There was still talent here . They were working on different watches than we are working on here today , but the talent generally speaking was there , '' he said . `` So all we had to do was help them to get to the next level . '' Bouncing back . Fortunately for those companies , Glashütte has revived as Germany 's capital of watchmaking once again , employing more people than it ever has . Of the town 's 1,800 residents , 1,500 work in the watchmaking industry . Watchmaker Nomos Glashütte is another example of the area 's growth in the past 25 years . The company , formed two months after the fall of the Berlin Wall , says its focus on design has pushed it forward in the past 25 years . `` We have brought great and unique design to Glashütte , '' said Uwe Ahrendt , CEO of Nomos Glashütte . `` We make beautiful watches and our timepieces come at very good prices , '' he said . In an era of start-ups and cheaper products being made at a fraction of the cost , the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall is a reflection of how resilient these particular watchmakers have been , and how adaptable they are in the global landscape . Read more Super fast and green ? How the new breed of sports cars is getting a makeover . Read more : Want a top notch college degree but ca n't afford it ? Head to Germany . Learn more : Germany by numbers : A look inside Europe 's economic powerhouse .
Glashütte , a small town in Germany has a rich heritage of watch making . Glashütte watches are mechanical and handcrafted . The watches were closed after Wilhelm II as the town was in East Germany . However , they have been restored to former glory since the reunification .