List of German astronomers of the early modern period

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The following table records astronomers of the early modern period , i.e. from the end of the Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century, with a focus on the German-speaking area. The preset sorting is done chronologically according to the year of death.

Surname born died Remarks
15th century  
Georg Muestinger before 1400 1442 Augustinian provost in Klosterneuburg Abbey ; Friend and student of Johannes von Gmunden
Johannes von Gmunden around 1380 1442 Professor of Physics in Vienna; Planet tables and calendar
Lawrence of Ratibor 1381 1448 Professor in Cracow and Polish court astronomer ; Prediction of a solar eclipse for 1433
Georg von Peuerbach 1423 1461 Pioneer of the Copernican worldview; built innovative measuring instruments; first university professor for astronomy
Friedrich Amann 1464 or 1465 Benedictines in St. Emmeram in Regensburg ; Author of astronomical writings
Regiomontanus 1436 1476 first scientific description of a comet ; Reformer of the Julian calendar ; Ephemeris and tables of the solar declination
Johannes Canter 1424 1497 Humanist and astronomer in Groningen ; Court astrologist of the German Emperor Friedrich III.
16th Century  
Bernhard Walther 1430 1504 Pupil, patron and successor of Regiomontanus; astronomical observer in Nuremberg
Johannes Engel before 1463 1512 Professor in Ingolstadt ; Corrections to the Alfonsine tables
Andreas Stiborius around 1464 1515 University teacher in Vienna; Expert opinion on calendar reform
Marcus Schinnagel around 1448 after 1520 Astrologer and author of the text of a representative secular pentaptych
Johannes Werner 1468 1522 Nuremberg pastor; Observer and instrument maker; Work on the precession of the equinoxes
Heinrich Schreiber 1492 1525 Writings on arithmetic and astronomy
Johannes Stöffler 1452 1531 Manufacturer of instruments and celestial globes; Author of an almanac; Professor of Astronomy in Tübingen
Paul of Middelburg 1445 1534 Calendar reform proposals
Wilhelm Haller of Hallerstein 1478 1534
Georg Tannstetter 1482 1535 University teacher in Vienna; Expert opinion on calendar reform, editor of astronomical works and tables
Johannes Virdung 1463 1538 or 1539 Astrologer; Author of the Tabulae resolutae , a set of tables
Albertus Pighius around 1490 1542 Catholic theologian; Writings on astrology and calendar reform
Nicolaus Copernicus 1473 1543 Author of De revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium , where he was a heliocentric world view represented
Lüder Reventlow around 1470 1546 astrologer
Johannes Schöner 1477 1547 Nuremberg astronomer; Editor of the observations by Bernard Walther and Regiomontanus
Jakob Ziegler around 1470 1549 Commentary on the second volume of the Naturalis historia of Pliny
Johannes Vogelin before 1500 1549 Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy in Vienna; Writings on comets
Nicolaus Kratzer 1487 1550 Court astronomer to King Henry VIII of England .
Erasmus Reinhold 1511 1553 Advocate and advocate of the Copernican worldview
Johann Dryander 1500 1560 Author of Astrolabii canones brevissimi and other textbooks on the use of astronomical instruments
Johannes Hommel 1518 1562 Professor in Leipzig
Johannes Acronius Frisius presumably 1520 1564 Professor in Basel
Johann Scheubel 1494 1570 Professor in Tübingen
Georg Joachim Rheticus 1514 1574 Professor in Wittenberg; Pupil of Copernicus
Cyprian von Leowitz 1524 1574 Astrologer and court astronomer of the Palatinate Elector Ottheinrich in Lauingen ; Author of ephemeris ( Ephemeridum novum atque insigne opus from anno 1556 ad annum 1606 )
Hieronymus Lauterbach 1531 1577 Professor in Vienna and Styrian landscape mathematics in Graz
Cornelis Gemma 1535 1577 Son of Gemma R. Frisius ; astrological writings; Expert opinion on calendar reform
Erasmus Oswald Schreckenfuchs 1511 1575 Commentaria in novas theoricas planetarum Georgii Purbachii (1556)
Paul Wittich around 1546 1586 Employee of Tycho Brahe and astronomer of Landgrave Wilhelm IV (Hessen-Kassel) of Hessen-Kassel
Andreas Schöner 1528 1590 Son of Johannes Schöner ; Editor of his works and works of Regiomontanus ; Writings on Gnomonic
Victorin Schönfeld 1525 1591 Prognosticon astrologicum on the revolutiones and accumulations of the planets (1562)
Heinrich Brucaeus 1530 1593 Professor in Rostock
Georg Stadius around 1550 1593 Styrian landscape mathematician and professor in Graz ; Author of calendars and Ephemerides astronomicae
Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser 1540 1596 Dutch navigator; created a star catalog of the southern sky and named 12 new constellations
Nicolaus Reimers 1551 1600 Translator of the main work of Nicolaus Copernicus ; Court astronomer of Rudolf II in Prague
Thaddaeus Hagecius 1525 1600 Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy in Prague ; Study of planetary motion and cometary research; Observation of the supernova 1572
Christoph Rothmann between 1550 and 1560 probably around 1600 prepared the Kassel star catalog for Wilhelm IV of Hessen-Kassel , but it remained unfinished
17th century  
Tycho Brahe 1546 1601 had observatories built on the Baltic island of Hven ; described the supernova in 1572 ; his observations were the basis of Kepler's Rudolphine tables ; suggested a Tychonic World Model as a compromise between geocentric and heliocentric models
Andreas Rosa 1530 1602 Astronomer in Schweinfurt, Schleusingen and Amberg
David goose 1541 1613 Jewish astronomer in Prague
Jakob Christmann 1554 1613 Orientalist ; Translator of the Farghani
Bartholomäus Scultetus 1540 1614 Construction of sundials; Protestant advocate of Gregorian calendar reform
Johann Richter 1537 1616 Professor in Wittenberg and Altdorf ; Instrument maker; De cometis (1578)
David Fabricius 1564 1617 discovered the variability of the star Mira ; Father of Johann Fabricius
Johann Fabricius 1587 1617 Co-discoverer of the sunspots
Titus of Popma before 1550 1620 Frisian astronomer; Tables
Isaac Habrecht 1544 1620 Writers of calendars; Manufacturer of celestial globes
Kaspar Uttenhofer before 1500 1621 Nuremberg astronomer; Writings on gnomonics and comets
Simon Marius 1573 1625 Court astronomer in Ansbach ; Dispute with Galileo about priority in the discovery of the four great moons of Jupiter ( Mundus Iovialis 1614)
Johann Bayer 1572 1625 created the sky atlas Uranometria (1603); introduced Bayer designations with Greek and Latin letters
Petrus Saxonius 1591 1625 Professor in Altdorf ; Investigation of sunspots
Johann Caspar Odontius 1580 1626 Pupil of Kepler; "Nürnbergischer Astronomus"; Real and thorough description of the Comet in November and December in the 1618th year of Christ
Julius Schiller before 1500 1627 together with Johann Bayer author of the Coelum Stellatum Christianum , a Christian star atlas
David Origanus 1558 1628 Novae motuum coelestium ephemerides Brandenburgicae (1609)
Johannes Kepler 1571 1630 discovered the laws of planetary motion ; De Stella nova in pede serpentarii on the Supernova 1604 ; Fonts on optics
Johannes Schreck 1576 1630 Jesuit missionary in China; Translator of astronomical texts; tasked with reforming the Chinese calendar
Michael Maestlin 1550 1631 Friend and teacher of Johannes Kepler ; Advocate of the Copernican worldview; realized that comets are not sublunar phenomena; correct explanation of the earth glow
Johan Philip Lansberg 1561 1632 Tabulae motuum coelestium perpetuae (1632)
Ambrosius Rhode 1577 1633 Professor in Wittenberg ; Textbook of optics
Jacob Bartsch 1600 1633 Usus astronomicus planisphaerii stellati (star maps, 1624)
Daniel Mögling 1596 1635 Court astronomer Philip III. from Hessen-Butzbach ; Rosicrucians
Christoph Grienberger 1561 1636 Jesuit at the Collegium Romanum ; developed the German mount for telescopes; Fonts on optics
Peter Crüger 1580 1639 Astronomer in Gdansk; De hypothetico systemate coeli (1615 ), Uranodromus cometicus ( 1619), Cupediae astrosophiae (1630)
Christoph Scheiner 1573 1650 Optician and astronomer in Ingolstadt ; Co-discoverer of the sunspots
Johann Holwarda 1618 1651 Studies on variable stars ; Dissertatio astronomica (1640)
Jacob Fabricius 1576 1652 Pupil of Tycho Brahe
Johann Baptist Cysat 1586 1657 Pupil of Christoph Scheiner ; Professor in the University of Lucerne
Philipp Mueller 1585 1659 Professor in Leipzig
Elias of Leo 1602 1661 written calendar documents
Andreas Goldmayer 1602 1665 Astronomer and astrologer in Nuremberg; Harmonious eternal astronomical tables of the course of the sun and the moon (1639)
Maria Cunitz 1610 1664 Urania Propitia (Tafelwerk, 1650)
Oswald Kruger 1598 1665 Theoremata et problemata ex Optica, Geometria, Astronomia, Sphaera elementari, Computo ecclesiastico (1633)
Adam Schall from Bell 1592 1666 Jesuit missionary in China; wrote astronomical writings in Chinese
Christoph Notnagel 1607 1666 Professor in Wittenberg
Philipp Eckebrecht 1594 1667 Nuremberg businessman and astronomer
Abdias Trew 1597 1669 Professor in Altdorf
Johannes Hecker 1625 1675 Call to observe the Mercury transit calculated by him on May 6, 1674 (first such call)
Caspar Marche 1629 1677 Investigations into solar and lunar eclipses
Daniel Lagus 1618 1678 Theoretatum uranographicorum pentas quarta (1640)
Daniel Lipstorp 1631 1684 Copernicus redivivus (1653)
Peter Megerlin 1623 1686 Work on chronology and comets; astrologer
Johannes Hevelius 1611 1687 Selenograph ( Selenographia 1647); Discoverer of libration ; Comet discoverer
Nicholas Mercator 1620 1687 Calendar Improvement and Spherical Astronomy Fonts
Manuel Bocarro Francês 1588 or 1593 1688 Jewish doctor and astrologer; Writings on comets
Georg Samuel Dörffel 1643 1688 Astronomical observation of the great comet, which A. appeared in 1680 and 1681 (1681)
Stephan Spleiss 1623 1693 Incidental account of the present Comet stars (1664)
Johann Jacob Zimmermann 1644 1693 Scriptura Sacra Copernizans (1690)
Elisabetha Hevelius 1647 1693 Wife of Johannes Hevelius ; Editor and editor of the Prodromus astronomiae (catalog of the heavenly positions of 1564 stars)
Christoph Arnold 1650 1695 Comet discoverers; Mercury transit observer on October 31, 1690
18th century  
Friedrich Madeweis 1648 1705 Redux apparitio novi cometae 1680 et 1681 (1681)
Georg Christoph Eimmart 1638 1705 Founder of the first Nuremberg observatory, mathematician and engraver
Maria Clara Eimmart 1676 1707 Astronomer in Nuremberg, daughter of Georg Christoph Eimmart , made astronomical drawings
Detlev Clüver 1645 1708 Tabulae astronomicae in R. Moses Maimonides librum de consecratione calendarum et ratione intercalandi (1708)
Gottfried Kirch 1639 1710 Calendar maker and royal astronomer in Berlin
Bernhard Friedrich von Krosigk 1656 1714 Privy councilor and operator of astronomical studies; established observatories in Poplitz , Berlin, Arkhangelsk and South Africa
Johann Heinrich Hoffmann 1669 1716 royal astronomer in Berlin
Johann Justus Bode 1676 1719 Astronomer and mathematician in Coburg, inventor of the Instrumentum universale Uranoscopico-horologico-geometricum
Maria Margaretha Kirch 1670 1720 Astronomer in Berlin
Constantin Gabriel Hecker 1670 1721 Astronomer and calendar maker in Gdansk
Johann Christoph Müller 1673 1721 Observatio de transitu Mercurii sub sole (1698)
Hans Jakob Fäsi 1664 1722 Mathematician, astronomer and manufacturer of astrolabes
Paul Father 1656 1724 Professor in Thorn
Johann Philipp von Wurzelbau 1651 1725 Astronomer in Nuremberg
Georg Heinrich Rast 1695 1726 Works on star occultations ; Dissertatio astronomica de linea meridiana (1716)
Johann Leonhard Rost 1688 1727 Astronomer in Nuremberg
Lothar Zumbach von Koesfeld 1661 1727 Astronomer in Leiden and Kassel; Designer of astronomical demonstration devices (planetolabium)
Johann Heinrich Müller 1671 1731 Head of the observatory in Nuremberg
Christian Sahme 1663 1732 Treatises on the shape of the earth, calculation of the eclipses and occultations of a star by the moon
Johannes Gaupp 1667 1738 Pastor in Lindau, Gnomonica Mechanica Universalis (1720)
Christfried Kirch 1694 1740 Director of the Berlin observatory ; Observationes astronomicae selectiores in observatorio regio Berolinensi habitae (1730)
Johann Beyer 1673 1751 Carpenter and astronomer in Hamburg
Johann Jakob Marinoni 1676 1755 imperial court mathematician in Vienna; built the first Vienna observatory
Thomas Splice 1705 1775 Astronomer in Schaffhausen
Johann Friedrich Weidler 1691 1755 Institutiones mathematicae (1718)
Georg Rothe 1691 1758 Astronomer in Görlitz; Collected Comet Library Or intimate discussions about the Comet published in 1744 (1746)
Basil Christian Bernhard Wiedeburg 1722 1758 Work on the annual parallax of the earth and the propagation of light
August Nathanael Grischow 1726 1760 Director of the old Berlin observatory , then professor in Saint Petersburg
Georg Matthias Bose 1710 1761 Physicist and astronomer in Wittenberg
Andreas Gschwandter 1696 1762 Erotemata physico-astronomica de cometis, anno 1744
Tobias Mayer 1723 1762 Libration of the moon; exact tables on the position of the moon, which made the astronomical solution of the longitude problem possible
Johann Wilhelm Gehler 1696 1765 Mayor and astronomer in Görlitz
Friedrich Koes 1684 1766 Mathematician and astronomer in Kiel; Writings on calendar issues and solar or lunar eclipses
Johann Bernhard Wiedeburg 1687 1766 (partly theologically supported) writings on comets
Christoph Siegmund Schumacher 1704 1768 Improved astronomical year and diary for the year 1763 (1763)
Gottfried Heinsius 1709 1769 Professor of Astronomy in St. Petersburg and Leipzig; Moon, sun and Saturn observations
Christoph Langhansen 1691 1770 Reports of the solar eclipses in 1720 and 1734; Writings on the inclination of the ecliptic, the spherical shape of the earth, parallax calculations and on an unusual northern light observed on March 17, 1716
August von Hallerstein 1703 1774 Jesuit and missionary in China, head of the Imperial Astronomy Office in Beijing
Georg Moritz Lowitz 1722 1774 Head of the Göttingen Observatory; Professor of Astronomy in Saint Petersburg
Johann Andreas von Segner 1704 1777 Astronomical Lectures (1775)
Johann Albrecht Klein 1698 1778 Astronomer in Grimma
Joseph Stepling 1716 1778 Professor at the Clementinum in Prague and head of the observatory there
Michael Adelbulner 1702 1779 Editor of the newsletter for the promotion of astronomy
Johann Kies 1713 1781 Professor of mathematics and physics and astronomer in Berlin
Christine Kirch 1697 1782 Astronomer in Berlin
Johann Jakob Rau 1715 1782 Brief instructions for the knowledge and use of the celestial and terrestrial spheres (1756)
Christian Mayer 1719 1783 Professor in Heidelberg and electoral court astronomer; Working over binary stars
Johann Georg Palitzsch 1723 1788 discovered the return of Halley's Comet predicted by Edmond Halley in 1758 and discovered the atmosphere of Venus in 1761
Johann Ernst Basilius Wiedeburg 1733 1789 Works on constellations, polar lights and sunspots
Philipp Matthäus Hahn 1739 1790 Designer of astronomical clocks and instruments
Lampert Hinrich Röhl 1724 1790 Establishment of the Greifswald observatory
Peter clumsiness 1760 1790 Head of the observatory in Mannheim
Placidus Fixlmillner 1721 1791 Director of the Kremsmünster observatory
Maximilian Hell 1720 1792 Jesuit and director of the Vienna University Observatory; Ephemerides astronomicae ad meridianum Vindobonensem
Anton Pilgram 1730 1793 Ephemerides astronomicae ad meridianum Vindobonensem (1769ff); Disquisitio de parallaxi solis (1774)
David Naudé 1720 1794 astronomical computer and observator at the Berlin Academy of Sciences
Johann Wilhelm Wallot 1743 1794 Solstitial observations to determine the variability of the ecliptic skew
Johann Matthias Matsko 1721 1796 Head of the observatory in Kassel
Johann Jakob Huber 1733 1798 Director of the Berlin observatory ; Work on watch technology
Gotthilf Christian Reccard 1735 1798 Astronomer in Koenigsberg
Joseph Liesganig 1719 1799 Degree measurement in the Vienna meridian