Kaspar Brunner

Kaspar Brunner (died 1561) was a Swiss mechanic best known for his construction of the clockwork of the Zytglogge, Bern's medieval clock-tower, in 1527–1530.

After the previous clockwork broke down beyond repair, the city council commissioned Brunner in 1527 to build a new one for the sum of 1.000 gulden.

In the following three years, Brunner built the massive mechanism that continues to operate the tower's astronomical clock to this day.

He was admitted into the Gesellschaft zu Schmieden, the blacksmiths' guild, in 1530, thus fulfilling the prerequisite for holding public office.

In the same year, he was called to Nuremberg, then the Holy Roman Empire's largest city, where he headed the urban arsenal until his death in 1561.