Leipzig observatory (since 1861)

Leipzig Observatory's 1861 building stands in the Johannistal area of Leipzig, Germany, successor to an earlier observatory that once stood on the city's Pleißenburg castle tower.

About Leipzig Observatory

The first Leipzig observatory was built between 1787 and 1790 and opened on 3 February 1794. A new observatory was constructed in Johannistal between 1860 and 1861, designed by architect Albert Geutebrück, and opened on 8 November 1861. A second dome was added in 1866 for astrophysics work under Karl Friedrich Zöllner.

History

The observatory was led over the decades by notable directors including August Ferdinand Möbius (1816–1848), Karl Christian Bruhns (1861–1881), and Heinrich Bruns (1882–1919). Its instruments included a six-foot refractor, a meridian circle added in 1866, and a 19-cm refractor added in 1890. The building was damaged in an air raid on 4 December 1943 and the observatory closed in 1956.

Location & getting there

The former observatory building is in Leipzig, Germany, and today houses Leipzig University's Institute of Meteorology.

Visiting Leipzig Observatory

The site no longer operates as an observatory; the building is used by Leipzig University's meteorology institute, so there is no public stargazing programme to visit.

See your named star from here

Generations of astronomers once studied the sky from Leipzig's domes. You can carry that tradition forward with a star of your own - name a star, or browse the catalogue of stars already named.