Astronomical-physical cabinet

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Astronomical-Physical Cabinet
La Orangerie de Kassel.JPG
The orangery has housed the astronomical-physical cabinet since 1992
Data
place kassel
opening 1992
operator
State of Hesse
Website
ISIL DE-MUS-416915

The Astronomical-Physical Cabinet ⊙ is a museum in Kassel. The collection is based on the promotion of the natural sciences by the Hessian landgraves and their passion for curiosities . The museum is divided into the exhibition areas astronomy , clocks , geodesy , physics and mathematics / information technology . The time span of the exhibits goes from the late Renaissance to the industrial revolution . The museum is now located in the orangery on Karlsaue .

history

The history of the museum goes back to Wilhelm IV of Hessen-Kassel , known as the sage . He was very interested in science and founded Europe's first permanent observatory in Kassel in 1560 . Around 1600 he founded an art chamber from which the scientific and technical collection developed. The watchmakers , instrument makers and astronomers Eberhard Baldewein and Jost Bürgi continued to shape the museum .

The oldest surviving inventory list of the Kunst-Kammer dates from 1573. The next, from 1644, has been certified three times , which emphasizes the importance of the collection. The rare mathematical instruments were one reason why librarians , mathematicians and natural science scholars worked in Kassel in the 17th century .

Under Karl von Hessen-Kassel , the collection experienced a qualitative and varied increase. He began to employ a whole staff of mechanics , opticians and artisans .

There were also black sheep among all the top-class scientists and craftsmen. So Karl von Hessen-Kassel fell for the impostor Domenico Manuel Caetano . The fraudster undertook costly experiments and created fake gold that is still preserved today. He also had a fake perpetual motion machine from Johann Ernst Elias Bessler presented to him. The French Denis Papin experimented here as a pioneer on the use of steam power . Several exhibits have been preserved from him.

The Museum Fridericianum already contained a mathematical cabinet, a physical cabinet, a clock room, a cabinet of optics and a room called: "Room in which many machines are kept".

The Electorate of Hesse was annexed by Prussia in 1866 . In the course of this, the observatory fell asleep more and more, there were no purchases for the collection, and the scientific instruments in the Fridericianum Museum fell behind. The personal commitment of some citizens prevented the collection from being dissolved. With the completion of the Hessian State Museum in 1913, the Fridericianum Museum had to be evacuated. But the large observation instruments remained in the Zwehrenturm and the collection remained together. Photographs and cuts from the year provide information about the whereabouts of some of the exhibits. The astronomical-physical collection was housed in the Hessian State Museum. In 1938 some objects came to the newly founded Landgrave Museum .

During the Second World War , several exhibits were relocated until 1950. Nonetheless, numerous exhibits were destroyed in the firestorm on October 22, 1943 . In 1935, the technical historian Paul Adolf Kirchvogel took over the supervision of the Astronomical-Physical Cabinet for 40 years . As a soldier on home leave in 1943, he personally recovered damaged exhibits from the rubble of the Landgrave Museum. He also ensured that the collection was increased by an instrument foundation from the Hamburg observatory . The Astronomical-Physical Cabinet was reopened on January 25, 1953 in the building of the Hessian State Museum.

In the summer of 1983 the usage plan for the Museum Fridericianum was changed for the documenta . The baroque orangery was discussed as an alternative solution for the scientific exhibits . The collection should be divided according to the size of the exhibits. This idea, which was not conclusive in terms of museum education, was averted by public protests. On September 2, 1988, the state government confirmed the use permit: The orangery is reserved for the cabinet, the planetarium and parts of the collection for the history of technology. After the new building of the documenta hall in 1992, the astronomical-physical cabinet with planetarium was able to move into the orangery and use most of the building for its permanent exhibition. The architect Dieter Quast carried out the necessary renovation work in the orangery . Ludolf von Mackensen was the founding director of the "Museum for Astronomy and the History of Technology", which opened in 1992, as the museum was called until 2004. Since November 2004 it has been given the historical name Astronomical-Physical Cabinet again .

The museum is part of the museum association "Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel".

The Karlsaue planetary hiking trail is located on the site . The sun is painted on the glass above the entrance.

collection

Celestial globe by Jost Bürgi around 1582 Photo by AB

Outside next to the entrance is a device that can be used to determine the height and direction of the sun. Inside, the collection of the Astronomical and Physical Cabinet is divided into the exhibition areas of astronomy , clocks , geodesy , physics and mathematics / information technology . The time span of the exhibits ranges from the late Renaissance to the industrial revolution . In February 2015 the permanent exhibition area "Space and Time Measurement: 1600 - 1900" was opened. A curiosity here is the life-size, mechanical replica of a cockchafer , whose feelers and legs can be moved by a clockwork . This work of precision mechanics is mentioned for the first time in the list of the estate of Landgrave Agnes from 1602. It is attributed to Jost Bürgi .

Among other things, sundials , seconds pendulum clocks , vacuum pumps , microscopes , electrifying machines , early calculating machines and quadrants are exhibited . Mechanical celestial globes and astronomical art clocks helped to understand the cosmos through their clockwork-driven simulation of the celestial movements. The copper celestial globe by Jost Bürgi, started around 1580, with 1180 fixed stars , partly inlaid in silver, should be emphasized here . On the other hand, the English celestial globe glued by Emery Molyneux from wood, metal and paper in 1592 , of which there is only one other copy in Germany.

The collection also includes a reconstruction of the Antikythera Mechanism and a Foucault pendulum , 9 meters high.

planetarium

The museum houses Hesse's largest planetarium . Opening was on April 30, 1992. The planetarium projector was a Zeiss System 1015 A . The dome has a diameter of 10 meters. 50 seats are available. The program is designed by the Astronomical Working Group in Kassel . In 2016 the planetarium received a new, contemporary projection system with a Zeiss Skymaster ZKP 4 for star projection, supplemented by a full dome projection system Velvet Duo so that a hybrid projection device is available.

literature

  • Ludolf von Mackensen: The scientific-technical collection. History, meaning and exhibition in the Kassel Orangery . Ed .: Orangery [Kassel]. G. Wenderoth, Kassel 1991, ISBN 3-87013-025-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ludolf von Mackensen: The scientific-technical collection. History, meaning and exhibition in the Kassel Orangery . Ed .: Orangery [Kassel]. G. Wenderoth, Kassel 1991, ISBN 3-87013-025-3 , pp. 9 .
  2. ^ A b Ludolf von Mackensen: The scientific-technical collection. History, meaning and exhibition in the Kassel Orangery . Ed .: Orangery [Kassel]. G. Wenderoth, Kassel 1991, ISBN 3-87013-025-3 , pp. 11 .
  3. ↑ Ludolf von Mackensen: The scientific-technical collection. History, meaning and exhibition in the Kassel Orangery . Ed .: Orangery [Kassel]. G. Wenderoth, Kassel 1991, ISBN 3-87013-025-3 , pp. 24 .
  4. ↑ Ludolf von Mackensen: The scientific-technical collection. History, meaning and exhibition in the Kassel Orangery . Ed .: Orangery [Kassel]. G. Wenderoth, Kassel 1991, ISBN 3-87013-025-3 , pp. 30 .
  5. ↑ Ludolf von Mackensen: The scientific-technical collection. History, meaning and exhibition in the Kassel Orangery . Ed .: Orangery [Kassel]. G. Wenderoth, Kassel 1991, ISBN 3-87013-025-3 , pp. 31 .
  6. ↑ Ludolf von Mackensen: The scientific-technical collection. History, meaning and exhibition in the Kassel Orangery . Ed .: Orangery [Kassel]. G. Wenderoth, Kassel 1991, ISBN 3-87013-025-3 , pp. 32 .
  7. ^ A b c d e Ludolf von Mackensen: The scientific-technical collection. History, meaning and exhibition in the Kassel Orangery . Ed .: Orangery [Kassel]. G. Wenderoth, Kassel 1991, ISBN 3-87013-025-3 .
  8. ↑ redshift-live.com
  9. ^ Art and Culture - Museum for Astronomy and the History of Technology , accessed on July 4, 2017.
  10. ↑ nordlandfreun.de
  11. ↑ abc.eggers-diaper.com
  12. ↑ kassel.de
  13. ^ Museum landscape Hessen Kassel. Collections. Astronomical-Physics Cabinet , accessed July 4, 2017.
  14. ↑ Ludolf von Mackensen: The scientific-technical collection. History, meaning and exhibition in the Kassel Orangery . Ed .: Orangery [Kassel]. G. Wenderoth, Kassel 1991, ISBN 3-87013-025-3 , pp. 59 .
  15. ↑ Redshift Live Planetarium in the Astronomical-Physical Cabinet Kassel , accessed on July 4, 2017.
  16. ↑ museum-kassel.de hybrid projection system , accessed on December 3, 2017.