Wleń is one of the oldest towns in Lower Silesia. It obtained municipal rights in the first half of the 13th century. The settlement developed dynamically until the end of the 16th century, serving as an important trade centre. The town had the right to trade in salt, and from 1501 – the exclusive right to organise pigeon fairs, which became its showcase. In the modern period, as a result of warfare, Wleń significantly declined. It was not until the 19th century that local economy was rebuilt. At that time, attempts were made to create a spinning industry hub in the town, but the centre was not able to compete with the much stronger Jelenia Góra.

The watch factory in Wleń, founded in 1850 by the brothers Eduard, Wilhelm and Albert Eppner, gained an international reputation. In 1856, after an audience with the Prussian King Frederick William IV, Eduard Eppner was awarded the title of the Court Watchmaker and the Royal Purveyor to the Court. The monarch’s protection not only brought great prestige, but also a high monthly subsidy. In the same year, specialists from Switzerland were employed in the factory, which resulted in a significant increase in the quality and accuracy of the mechanisms. In addition to silver and gold pocket watches, the factory in Wleń produced women’s watches with diamonds, special watches for railway conductors and postal coaches, pendulum clocks and tower clocks. In the early 1860s, the Prussian Navy Ministry commissioned the factory to produce a large number of chronometers for ship equipment. Products from Wleń were exported, among others, to to Russia, England, Egypt, the USA and Brazil, and in 1862 a two-year vocational school was opened at the plant, educating in the watchmaking profession.

The end of splendor came with the launch of a competitive factory in Zgorzelec in the late 1860s, which attracted skilled workers from Wleń, offering better wages. In the face of a threatening crash, the plant was moved to Srebrna Góra in the years 1868–1872. The only testimony to Wleń’s watchmaking golden era is the clock on the town hall tower, made by the 17-year-old Johann Gottlieb Becker, a graduate of the watchmaking school in Wleń, and then an employee of the Eppner factory.