Hamburg Planetarium
Coordinates: 53 ° 35 ′ 50 ″ N , 10 ° 0 ′ 32 ″ E
The Hamburg Planetarium is one of nine large planetariums and the most popular star theater in Germany .
The planetarium was built in 1930 in the Hamburg city park in a former water tower . Since then it has been repeatedly on the latest state of the art brought; the last renovation lasted a year and a half until it reopened in early 2017. In the following twelve months, the 2361 events attracted 380,000 visitors. The old water tower with the planetarium is one of the landmarks of the Hamburg-Nord district and the Winterhude district .
history
- For the construction of the building see: Water tower Hamburg-Winterhude
Buildings and astronomical exhibition
The almost 65 m high tower was built between 1912 and 1915 as a water tower, but was only used until 1924 for this purpose. The conversion to a planetarium began in 1929 under the direction of the architect Hans Loop and turned out to be very complex. A 23 m high cylindrical room with a diameter of 22 m, which was created under the water tank and divided into two floors by a false ceiling, served as the basis. The upper floor became the actual planetarium dome, while the lower floor was used to set up the ticket office with a lobby, exhibition and collection rooms and offices. The planetarium opened on April 30, 1930.
Since opening, the centerpiece of the facility has been a projection dome with a diameter of 20.6 m, making the planetarium one of the nine large planetariums in Germany. The original seating consisted of wooden chairs and benches, which were replaced by plastic seating with 270 seats in the 1970s. Since the renovation in 2002/2003, when the previous seats were replaced by modern reclining chairs, there are 253 seats available.
The lower floor received a library with astronomical and astrological books by Aby Warburg during the installation of the planetarium . The Warburg collection has been shown since May 31, 1993 in a fully restored form in a room directly below the water tank. The Warburg collection is no longer publicly accessible today, the images are in the Art History Institute of the University of Hamburg , the library is still in the planetarium.
The "Wandelhalle" was designed by the painter Dorothea Maetzel-Johannsen in the style of the times. However, she died while working, so Heinrich Groth completed the paintings. The exhibition on the lower floor was subject to constant change over the course of time and could thus be adapted to the different interests of the visitors and the planetarium management again and again. At the beginning, the history of astronomy dominated the content, but over time the focus shifted more and more towards space travel and exploration of the solar system. At the end of the 1990s, space models, meteorites, a large number of images of the earth and the solar system and one of the largest lunar globes in the world at that time were exhibited in the lower part .
With the renovation in 2002/2003, almost all rooms were redesigned. The entrance was relocated to the rear of the building, the cash desk area became more spacious and open. There was more space for the visitors to move around, a food stand and a presentation of the history of the planetarium. A new ceiling was put in under the water tank, which was to serve as an exhibition and conference area in the future.
The planetarium was extensively rebuilt from mid-2015 to the end of 2016. A second lower level was added to the previous one-storey foyer, thereby expanding the usable area of the planetarium by 1,200 m². For this purpose, the ring-shaped foundation of the former water tower was broken through on three sides, creating three additional, barrier-free ground-level entrances to the new lower level of the foyer. The ring-shaped, stepped foundation is visible here. The upper level of the foyer with access to the star room can be reached via a new glass elevator and one of the two elevators that go up to the 45 meter high viewing platform. The ceiling painting created in 1930, which shows the mythologically illustrated starry sky and Goethe's poem "Demons", has been preserved. In addition, the planetarium now also has an event room and a café with an outdoor dining area. The reopening of the planetarium took place on February 14, 2017. Above the star room there is still the large water tank in the former water tower, which was no longer used in 1930 when it was converted into a planetarium and offers a further option for an extension.
Technical equipment of the star room
When it opened, the planetarium was equipped with a Zeiss model II planetarium projector, which was acquired by the City of Hamburg in 1925, as the first series device from Zeiss. This first projector was replaced in 1957 by a Zeiss Model IV planetarium, which had been in use for 25 years and was only replaced by a Model VI planetarium in 1983. The planetarium projectors of the models II, IV and VI shaped the image of the Hamburg planetarium for many decades with their characteristic dumbbell shape. In contrast to its predecessor, Model IV could not be sold and was displayed in a showcase in the exhibition until the renovation in 2002/2003.
During this renovation, the planetarium was extensively renovated in 15 months and supplemented with many technical innovations. The new Zeiss Model IX Universarium depicts the starry sky in the projection dome. In addition, with the Digistar 5 system from Evans & Sutherland, image and video content can be projected to fill the dome with the help of two video projectors. Since December 2006 the planetarium has had a show laser system made up of nine projectors, two of which can be moved freely. In addition to a large number of purely visual effects, the system also enables complete graphics to be moved over the dome.
With the renewed renovation of the planetarium in 2016, the star room received new seat cushions, from which the audience can more easily follow the projections on the star dome above their heads. The newly installed software for the Zeiss IX Universarium star projector and the Digistar 6 cosmos simulator enables the display of three-dimensional image worlds.
The director of the planetarium, Thomas Kraupe, describes the current combination of Zeiss star projection, digital 8K 3D full-dome projection and sound as "unique in the world".
Planetarium director
- 1930 to 1934: Theodor Körner
- 1934 to 1964: Johannes Meyer
- 1964 to 1974: Josef Bellmer
- 1974 to 1975: Joachim Ekrutt and Richard Grambow
- 1975 to 2000: Erich Übelacker
- 2000 until today: Thomas W. Kraupe
Development of the planetarium operation
At the beginning, the planetarium was managed by the Hamburg school authorities and had a very strong focus on imparting basic astronomical knowledge to students. For this reason, there was a clear separation between performances for schools, which were only held in closed groups, and performances for the general public, well into the 1990s. During the Allied occupation after World War II, responsibility for the planetarium operation was transferred to the Hamburg cultural authority .
When Erich Übelacker took over management, the range of performances gradually changed and expanded. Special lectures with guest speakers ( specialist astronomers , leaders of other planetariums, authors or scientists from related disciplines) came first. As early as the late 1970s, there were first experiments with multimedia shows, in which music and visual effects were in the foreground instead of the starry sky. Classical concerts were later performed with great success under the artificial starry sky , initially under the direction of the conductor Robert Stehli .
In the course of its history, the planetarium has repeatedly been able to attract well-known scientists as speakers, including Heinz Haber , Jesco von Puttkamer , Rudolf Kippenhahn , Bernd Loibl , Reimar Lüst , Sigmund Jähn , Gerhard Neukum and Hartmut Graßl .
Today's use of the planetarium
Transport links
The following public transport stops are close to the planetarium: U 3 to Borgweg, bus 179 to Stadtpark, bus 20 or 26 to Ohlsdorfer Straße.
Schedule with up to ten screenings a day
When Thomas Kraupe took over the management of the planetarium in 2000, the concept of the performances began to be changed, which was fully implemented after the renovation in 2002/2003. The separation of the performances into school performances and public performances has been abandoned. The number of presentation topics offered at the same time has been increased, whereby the topics are usually offered up to three times a week and remain in the program for a period of several months. Special lectures and concerts continue to complement the offer. The proportion of entertainment programs was increased, especially on weekends and in the evenings.
Planetarium viewpoint
The viewing platform is on the 8th floor and can be reached by stairs or elevator. With a panoramic view of the whole of Hamburg, the Elbphilharmonie , the city's church towers, City Nord , Hamburg Airport , the Jahn-Kampfbahn, the Mundsburg towers and the visual axis of Hamburg's city park from the planetarium to the city park lake are in view.
See also
literature
- Jochen Schramm (Ed.): Stars over Hamburg . 2nd revised and expanded edition. Kultur & Geschichtkontor, Hamburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-9811271-8-8 , p. 122 .
- Thomas W. Kraupe, Ehrenfried Kluckert: “Because what's inside, that's outside” The history of the modern planetarium . 1st edition. Planetarium Hamburg, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-933284-15-5 , p. 117-160 .
- Anke Küpper: Hamburg Museum Guide . 2nd Edition. L&H Verlag, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-928119-12-5 , p. 156-159 . Description for the situation in the mid-1990s.
- Ralf Lange : Architecture in Hamburg . Junius Verlag , Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-88506-586-9 , p. 177 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Friederike Ulrich: After renovation, more visitors to the planetarium than ever before . ( Abendblatt.de [accessed on March 25, 2018]).
- ↑ a b c Planetarium Hamburg , general information. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
- ↑ a b History of the Hamburg Planetarium, Hamburg Planetarium. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
- ↑ a b Julika Pohle: "Himmlischer Anblick" In: Die Welt , February 14, 2017, accessed on February 17, 2017.
- ↑ The starry sky in the water tower - The Hamburg Planetarium , Jochen Schramm, The history of astronomy in Hamburg . Retrieved February 16, 2017.
- ↑ Planetarium Hamburg (ed.): The star theater. June / July 2017 edition, p. 12.
Web links
- Planetarium Hamburg, homepage of the planetarium
- History of the planetarium on the publisher's website of the book "Stars over Hamburg"
- Current planetarium models from Carl Zeiss AG
- Astronomical exhibition as of the 1990s , photo album on Flickr