Westphalian public observatory

Observatory and planetarium

The Westfälische Volkssternwarte Recklinghausen is an observatory in the northwest of the city of Recklinghausen . The building consists of a 20 m high octagonal tower with an attached planetarium dome and is located in the Recklinghausen city garden, near the Ruhrfestspielhaus . The city of Recklinghausen is responsible for the institute.

The Recklinghausen observatory regularly conducts public observations of the starry sky and the sun. An extensive program is offered in the lecture hall and planetarium.

On the outside area there is an "experience field for the senses" with experiments for optical and acoustic perception as well as the beginning of a 3 km long planetary path .

history

the so-called Urania Temple

The initiative to set up a public observatory goes back to an association, the "Association of Friends of Astronomy and Cosmic Physics". Particularly committed was Vinzenz Dahlkamp, a city surveyor who outlined the requirement for astronomical education in a memorandum in 1940. The city of Recklinghausen approved 35,000 Reichsmarks in the same year for the construction of an observatory tower. To this end, the octagonal tower of the "parking garage" in what was then Hindenburgpark should be raised and given a dome. The main instrument was to be a refractor that was ordered from Carl Zeiss .

As a result of the Second World War and the economic situation in the post-war years, the project could not be implemented. Since the original association no longer existed, a new one was founded, which was named "Astronomical Association for the Ruhr Area". In 1950, through collections and in-house work, a smaller observation dome with a diameter of four meters, the “Urania Temple”, was built in the city park. A 15 cm refractor from Reinfelder & Hertel, donated by a private individual, was available for observation. The uranium temple was thus the forerunner of the public observatory. Public guided tours of the star took place here, which met with great interest among the population.

Since there was not enough space and no training and lecture rooms were available, a larger building was necessary. Its construction began in 1949. The project was partly financed by donations in kind and money. In 1950 the shell was largely finished, but the work had to be temporarily suspended due to lack of money. In 1951 Vinzenz Dahlkamp succeeded in bringing the annual conference of the “ Astronomical Society ” - a specialist conference of professional astronomers - to Recklinghausen. As a result, the public and the city administration were again drawn to the project, which led to the construction being completed soon. A substantial donation of 45,000 DM came from the USA , contributed by the McCloy Fund to help set up cultural and educational institutions.

In 1953 the observatory was completed. The inauguration took place on October 13th of that year in the presence of directors of larger observatories, including Prof. Cuno Hoffmeister .

The main instrument was a reflecting telescope with an 11 (28 cm) main mirror and a focal length of 2.5 m . The telescope was designed by members of the association based on the American model of the so-called Springfield mount . The entire construction weighed around 1.5 tons. The focuser was relocated to the cutting axis of the right ascension and declination axes. As a result, the observer's location remained independent of the telescope's orientation. On the ground floor there was a clock room with two astronomical pendulum clocks for determining sidereal time and Central European Time (CET), which could be connected to a Cloos chronograph . The observatory also had a lecture room and a reading room.

the meridian house with the passage instrument

In 1957 a third dome was built in the city park, the so-called " Meridianhaus ". It houses a passenger instrument from the Hamburg-Bergedorf observatory that has been on loan for 99 years.

Vinzenz Dahlkamp died on September 21, 1958, and Heinrich Kantus took over the management of the observatory. In 1962 Joachim Herrmann became full-time director of the institute again. The annual number of visitors reached 30,000 to 40,000 at times.

In 1966 a Carl Zeiss planetarium was built (model ZKP1), which offered space for 81 visitors. In 1985 this projector was replaced by the ZKP2 (Skymaster) model. As a result of the renovation and the technical changes, the number of seats was reduced to 74.

In 1996 Joachim Herrmann retired and the entire facility was threatened with closure due to financial bottlenecks. However, this was averted through the establishment of a support association of the “Friends of the Recklinghausen Public Observatory” and its initiatives. A short time later, Dr. Burkard Steinücken head of the institute. Under his direction, the instrument park was modernized and the outdoor facilities expanded and designed with the adventure field for the senses.

On June 3, 2017, an extension on the ground floor with a new lecture hall and ground level access was inaugurated. It was made with city funds and donations, including from the support association of the observatory. financed.

In 1999 the observatory initiated the horizon astronomy project on the nearby Hoheward heap , on which a large sundial was built in 2005 and the large horizon observatory in 2008.

Instruments

The original main instrument, an 11-inch Newtonian telescope , was replaced in 1997 by a Celestron -14 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with a focal length of around 4 m. The Newton reflector is now in the Astronomical-Physical Cabinet in Kassel.

An electrically controlled planetarium projector model ZKP2 (Skymaster) from Carl Zeiss Jena works in the planetarium. Several additional projectors complement the display options.

A modern telescope is used in the Urania dome to observe the sun .

In the Meridian House there is a pass-through instrument made by Repsold & Sons from 1896, which can be viewed there. It does not make any observations.