Johannes Durrstein founded the Union Uhren-Fabrik in Glashutte in 1893 as a co-operative trading and assembly venture, sourcing components from the surrounding Saxon manufactures (including A. Lange & Sohne, Assmann, and the Schule fur Uhrmacher) and finishing complete pocket watches under the Union name. The brand sat alongside the more famous Glashutte names through the late 19th and early 20th century, producing reliable mid-tier Saxon pocket watches before the Second World War and Soviet expropriation effectively erased the entire Glashutte watchmaking industry from public memory.
Union Glashutte was revived in 1996 by entrepreneur Heinz W. Pfeifer, who held the rights to the historic Union name and re-established the brand as a maker of Glashutte-finished mechanical watches in the post-reunification Saxon ecosystem. The early modern references used base movements from Swiss suppliers finished and decorated in Glashutte to qualify for the strict 'Made in Glashutte' designation (which requires at least 50% of movement value to be added in the town). The relaunched brand positioned itself as the accessibly-priced Saxon alternative to the much more expensive Glashutte Original and Lange.
In 2000 the Swatch Group acquired Union Glashutte, integrating it into the same German manufacturing structure as Glashutte Original (acquired 2000 from the same prior owner). Today Union operates from a separate Glashutte production site, sharing some component supply with Glashutte Original but maintaining a distinct positioning at lower price points. The current catalogue centres on the Belisar sport / pilot reference, the 1893 heritage line, the Noramis dress collection, and the Seris women's references, with prices typically EUR 1,500 - 4,500 - the most accessible point of entry into Glashutte-made watchmaking.
