History Archenhold Observatory

1 history

1.1 industrial exposition
1.2 new building
1.3 naming after archenhold
1.4 berlin re-united

history
industrial exposition

the great refractor @ great industrial exposition of berlin 1896

the archenold observatory began temporary installation @ 1896 great industrial exposition of berlin. @ initiative of wilhelm foerster , max wilhelm meyer, intended present scientific , astronomical knowledge general public. plans large telescope friedrich simon archenhold had been working on invoked purpose. although plans research instrument, design being criticised @ time. admittance charges @ exposition intended finance construction , later relocation of instrument. telescope erected in treptower park , sheltered in wooden building provided exhibition space , lecture theatre. when industrial exposition opened on 1 may 1896, great refractor still unfinished; began operation in september 1896. telescope has aperture of 68 cm (27 in) , focal length of 21 m (69 ft); movable mass 130 metric tons.

due late completion there no finance move telescope after exposition. @ end of 1896 city of berlin gave permission observatory remain in treptower park. archenhold, without astronomer s salary, decided turn installation public observatory. operated society, verein treptow-sternwarte e. v. archenhold president. considered oldest , largest public observatory in germany.

the exhibition covered themes history of astronomy, earth , moon, sun , planets, comets , meteors, stars , star clusters, instruments , optics. observations included standard objects, lunar eclipses, comets , nova cygni 1903. 23,000 visitors attended in 1897, number rising 60,000 1899 , remaining constant until 1930s.

new building

in 1908, original wooden building demolished , on 4 april 1909 new building inaugurated. on 2 june 1915, albert einstein gave first public talk general relativity @ observatory. in 1931, friedrich simon archenhold succeeded director son günter archenhold. due jewish ancestry, forced resign in 1936. family expelled observatory; emigrated, others ended in nazi concentration camps. observatory integrated city s school system. during world war ii bomb hit southwest wing, great refractor not severely damaged.

observations resumed july 1945 solar eclipse. edgar mädlow interim director, assisted herbert pfaffe.

naming after archenhold

participants of iiird world festival of youth , students visit archenhold observatory in august 1951

in 1946 city of berlin renamed observatory archenhold-sternwarte. on 1 june 1948 diedrich wattenberg, had been working archenhold, made director. annual visitor numbers rose 8,000 in 1946 25,000 in 1949. in 1958, great refractor decommissioned, retained monument of technology. 1959 onwards, observatory increasingly used school education in physics , astronomy. support this, in 1960s, 2 further domes erected in grounds. lecture theatre added, , in 1966 [[#solar physics cabinet][solar physics cabinet]] created, project sun @ 80 cm (31 in) diameter or solar spectrum @ 3 m (9.8 ft) length.

in november 1976, wattenberg retired , dieter b. herrmann made director of observatory. in march 1982, planetarium replaced. 1983 saw completion of reconstruction of great refractor, had started in 1977. annual visitor numbers during 1980s around 70,000 mark. archenhold had suggested major planetarium. became reality in 1987 when zeiss major planetarium built in ernst-thälmann-park. until 2013 , archenhold observatory formed single organisational entity.

berlin re-united

the telescope among buildings.

after german reunification in 1990, observatory came under control of city s school administration. significant repairs of great refractor had carried out in 1989/1990 , 1995. of 2013, telescope remains operational , available night observing. observatory underwent major refurbishment in 1995/1996. exhibition revised.

since 2002, observatory belongs german museum of technology. dieter b. herrmann retired in 2005. observatory led while head of astronomy department of technology museum, klaus staubermann. in 2009, felix lühning became director of archenhold observatory.