Volkssternwarte Regensburg

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Volkssternwarte Regensburg
Regensburg observatory from above

The Volkssternwarte Regensburg is one of the oldest public observatories in Germany, according to its own information the oldest continuously existing public observatory in southern Germany. The observatory is mainly used for popular education, among other things in cooperation with the Regensburg adult education center . In addition to special events at astronomical events, the observatory is open to the public on Friday evening. In 2017, 4676 visitors took advantage of the offers at the Regensburg public observatory.

history

1774 to 1902

Placidusturm Regensburg

The predecessor of today's observatory was an observatory of the St. Emmeram monastery in Regensburg , which was established in 1774. Prince Abbot Frobenius Forster had the corner towers of the monastery rebuilt for astronomical and meteorological observations in 1774 and 1775. After the abolition of the monastery, a corner tower of the Regensburg city ​​wall , the Placidusturm, was converted into an observatory in 1812 . The Benedictine Placidus Heinrich then introduced astronomical lessons at the Royal Lyceum . To do this, he had Reichenbach's observation instruments manufactured in Munich. The equipment that was available between 1812 and 1902 included:

  • Passage instrument by Reichenbach / Fraunhofer from 1812
  • Equatorial by Liebherr, Munich 1811, with an opening of 5 cm
  • Fortin repetition group , Paris, around 1800
  • Newtonian telescope , mirror telescope by Brander, built around 1770 in Augsburg, made of a wooden tube with an opening of 9 cm and a focal length of 90 cm
  • Comet finder from the 18th century, consisting of a lens optic with an opening of 6 cm and a focal length of 60 cm

The devices are now in the historical instrument collection of the University of Regensburg.

1902 to 1968

Equipment of the observatory in 1905.

The Placidusturm had to give way to the changed traffic conditions in 1902, in its place is today the Petersweg. Government agencies provided 20,000 marks to build a replacement . Two floors and a dome with a diameter of about 4.5 meters by the Dresden manufacturer Heyde were built on the already existing wing of the royal lyceum. Construction began in 1902 and the observatory was completed in 1905. The newly built floors served as a library and study, as well as accommodating the astronomical apparatus. The telescopic dome was equipped with a 150 mm refractor from Reinfelder, which is defective today and can be viewed in the lecture room of the observatory. The dome itself is now a listed building .

In 1919, the physics professor Karl Stöckl was appointed to the Lyceum. On November 10, 1919, a public astronomical lecture by Professor Karl Stöckl on the Milky Way was announced in the Regensburger Anzeiger for the "first Thursday after New Year". Thus, at the instigation of Karl Stöckl, the observatory was used as a public observatory from 1920. In 1923 the royal lyceum was converted to the Philosophical-Theological College (PTH) . In 1938 the Bayerischer Anzeiger reported on courses held every Friday at the Regensburg observatory.

From 1968

After the PTH was dissolved in 1968, the Volkssternwarte was able to use Prof. Dr. Bernhard Heß and Alois Menath will remain as part of the Regensburg University of Applied Sciences .

Since 1976 it has been operated by the non-profit association of the Friends of the Regensburg Observatory . The rooms of the observatory that are accessible today were completed in 1982 after a long period of renovation. Reinfelder's refractor, which was damaged during the renovation, was replaced in 1983 by an apochromatic refractor from Lichtenknecker.

The observatory today

150 mm refractor of the Regensburg observatory, built by Reinfelder around 1905
Riefler precision pendulum clock from 1905, exhibited in the Regensburg observatory

The astronomical instruments of the observatory include an apochromatic 150 mm Lichtenknecker refractor and a 3175 mm Cassegrain telescope , which are located in the historic dome. A 300 mm and a 280 mm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope are still located on the roof platform . A Riefler precision watch is also part of the inventory . The premises include a geological showroom and an exhibition room each on cosmology and the solar system.

literature

  • Alois Menath, 1969: "On the history of the Regensburg observatory" in Acta Albertina Ratisbonensia Band. 29
  • Communications on the history of astronomy No. 3 (PDF; 12 kB) Alois Menath, 1993: "Observation instruments of the old Regensburg Lyceum Observatory (1812 to 1902)"
  • Sandra Wilde, 1999. "... because there are no observations without an observatory": Astronomers and observatories in Regensburg, 1773–1923.
  • Benjamin Mirwald, 2014: Volkssternwarten: Dissemination and institutionalization of popular astronomy in Germany 1888–1935. AVA (Academic Publishing House)
  • Wilhelm Schenz, 1930: The first century of the Lyzeum Albertinum Regensburg (1810–1910)
  • Bernhard Hess, 1980; The natural sciences at the Philosophical-Theological University of Regensburg in the 19th and 20th centuries
  • Christoph Meinel, 2017: Knowledge things. The historical instrument collection; in 50 years University of Regensburg; Page 356–359
  • Andreas Becker, 2015: The records management of the Lyzeum Albertinum and the Philosophical-Theological University as reflected in the tradition in the Regensburg University Archives, in VHVO 154

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d History of the Regensburg Public Observatory , accessed on May 4, 2018
  2. ^ VHS courses of the Regensburg observatory , accessed on February 26, 2012
  3. ↑ Number of visitors to the observatory , accessed on May 4, 2018
  4. ↑ a b Bayerischer Anzeiger, 18./19. June 1938, page 8: In the beginning there was the astrolabe
  5. ↑ Alois Menath, 1969: "On the history of the Regensburger Sternwarte" in Acta Albertina Ratisbonensia Volume. 29
  6. ^ Wilhelm Schenz, Berlin 1930: The first century of the Lyzeum Albertinum Regensburg (1810-1910), page 189
  7. ↑ a b Wilde, Sandra. "... because there are no observations without an observatory": Astronomers and observatories in Regensburg, 1773–1923. 1999 .; Page 125 ff.
  8. ^ Regensburger Anzeiger, November 10, 1919
  9. ↑ Mirwald, Benjamin. Volkssternwarten: Dissemination and institutionalization of popular astronomy in Germany 1888–1935. AVA (Akademische Verlagsanstalt), 2014 .; Page 233 ff.

Web links

Coordinates: 49 ° 1 '2.7 "  N , 12 ° 5' 25.7"  E