Manfred Wachter (entrepreneur)

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Manfred Wachter (born August 27, 1938 in the Stuttgart district of Hedelfingen ; † October 17, 2000 ) was a German amateur astronomer, precision mechanic , telescope manufacturer and entrepreneur.

Wachter developed and produced high quality astronomical telescopes and accessories (devices) for amateur astronomers and professional astronomers (observatories). In Germany, Wachter telescopes were available from direct sales and from Kosmos-Verlag from 1965 to the end of 1974.

Life

As a teenager, Manfred Wachter was a passionate amateur astronomer. He was a trained precision mechanic, he received his training at Daimler-Benz in Stuttgart, then attended the engineering school in Esslingen . In 1963 he presented his first telescope, a 100mm Coudé refractor, the mechanical components of which were largely made of cast iron. The device served as the basis for the smaller Coude refractors, which were later mass-produced.

In 1969, Wachter relocated its production facility from the Uhlbach district of Stuttgart to Bodelshausen in the newly built building on Bahnhofstrasse.

Until the end of 1974, Wachter obtained the optics for his telescopes from Dieter Lichtenknecker , after which the American company Jaegers supplied the lenses for the refractors. In the mid-1975s, production and sales shifted completely to smaller amateur instruments. In addition, the Japanese units from Unitron were sold. On December 31, 1985, Wachter ceased operations.

Devices from Wachter

Manfred Wachter's telescopes are still widely used today. Particularly known are:

  • Wachter Coudé refractors with openings from 100mm to 230mm
  • Mount type I to IV (also called "astronomer" or "Orion" in Kosmos)
  • Various telescope kits for refractors and Schiefspiegler by Anton Kutter , which were sold by the Kosmos company
  • Large binoculars 14x100 "Wachter Gigant"
  • Custom-made large devices with up to 300mm lens or 480mm mirror diameter

Names after Wachter

The asteroid (157541) 2005 UN 8 was named after Manfred Wachter on May 29, 2018 at the suggestion of the discoverer Claudine Rinner and the initiator Andreas Philipp.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Manfred Wachter (entrepreneur) in the Small-Body Database of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (English).Template: JPL Small-Body Database Browser / Maintenance / Alt
personal data
SURNAME Wachter, Manfred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German astronomer and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH August 27, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Hedelfingen
DATE OF DEATH October 17, 2000