It was donated in 1921 by the German community in Lima, on the occasion of the Centennial of the Independence of Peru.

At twelve in the day and at six in the afternoon, its chimes played the first stanza of the National Anthem of Peru.

The German ambassador, Hans Paul von Humboldt-Dachroeden [de], commented that "a strong bond between both peoples and governments would be built and it would help to maintain and foster mutual understanding and friendship."

The construction of the clock tower was in charge of the German architect Friedrich Jordan Barkholtz (a native of Hamburg) and the engineering firm Dunkelberg and Pellry, who together with the German ambassador, the most notorious German families residing in Lima, in Chanchamayo and the mayor of the city, Pedro Pablo Mujica Carassa [es], celebrated the laying ceremony of the first stone on July 30, 1921.

[3] On April 10, 1922, it was agreed, through a session chaired by Mayor Pedro Rada y Gamio, to officiate at the Foundation Company, so that the university park would be in presentable condition at the inauguration of the tower.