295
The most impressive building, a fully freestanding nine-storey tower, the “sky
scraper” of the eighteenth century, is the “Specula Cremifanensis”, in the Benediktine
monastery Kremsmünster, Austria (1758).
6
Its name, the “Mathematical Tower”,
points out the strong link between astronomy and mathematics. In addition, there is
a cabinet of rarities, organised into the main categories “naturalia” and “artificialia”. This “universal” comprehensive exhibition of the collection in Kremsmünster
guide the visitor—from inanimate nature (minerals and fossils on the second floor)
to lower living nature (zoology and botanic, plants and animals), then to the human
sciences and arts (art chamber and picture gallery on the third and fourth floor),
further to the cosmos (the large observatory hall on the sixth floor)—and finally to
the reflection of God (the chapel on the seventh floor).
2.2 Observatories with Platforms
The first “modern” observatories, after the invention of the telescope, were established in the seventeenth century in places like Paris (1667) and Greenwich (1675).
They have been extensively discussed elsewhere (e.g. Müller, 1992). The French
architect Claude Perrault (1613–1688) and the astronomer Giovanni Domenico
Cassini (1625–1712) wanted to make Paris observatory an outstanding instrument
of astronomy, each in his own way. The result was an impressive palace building
with an assembly hall for the Academy of Sciences. For observation purposes, a
platform was provided for the long telescopes on the roof of the building.
Johannes Hevelius (1611–1687),
7
beer brewer and lord mayor of the Free and
Hanseatic City of Danzig (today Gdańsk, Poland), built his private observatory in
1649, enlarged on a platform above the roofs of his three burger houses
(Stellaeburgum, 1650–1679) (Fig. 3). Here, he observed and produced high precision star catalogues together with his wife Elisabetha Catherina Hevelius, born
Koopmann (1647–1693). It was the largest observatory of the time and was
destroyed by fire in 1679.
8
Very similar was Eimmart’s Observatory (1677–1757) in the Free Imperial City
of Nuremberg, Franconia, established on the Vestnertor bastion of the fortification
of Nuremberg castle. Georg Christoph Eimmart (1638–1705) built this observatory
in 1677 for research and particularly for training astronomers. It was one of the
major observatories of Europe’s Baroque period with a large collection of instruments and telescopes, but this open-air observatory survived only until 1757.
9
6 See Klamt (1999).
7 Hewelcke or Polish Jan Heweliusz.
8 For more details about the observatory and its instruments, see Kampa (2018).
9 See Wolfschmidt (2010).
Cultural Heritage of Observatories in Context with the IAU–UNESCO Initiative…
The most impressive building, a fully freestanding nine-storey tower, the “sky
scraper” of the eighteenth century, is the “Specula Cremifanensis”, in the Benediktine
monastery Kremsmünster, Austria (1758).
6
Its name, the “Mathematical Tower”,
points out the strong link between astronomy and mathematics. In addition, there is
a cabinet of rarities, organised into the main categories “naturalia” and “artificialia”. This “universal” comprehensive exhibition of the collection in Kremsmünster
guide the visitor—from inanimate nature (minerals and fossils on the second floor)
to lower living nature (zoology and botanic, plants and animals), then to the human
sciences and arts (art chamber and picture gallery on the third and fourth floor),
further to the cosmos (the large observatory hall on the sixth floor)—and finally to
the reflection of God (the chapel on the seventh floor).
2.2 Observatories with Platforms
The first “modern” observatories, after the invention of the telescope, were established in the seventeenth century in places like Paris (1667) and Greenwich (1675).
They have been extensively discussed elsewhere (e.g. Müller, 1992). The French
architect Claude Perrault (1613–1688) and the astronomer Giovanni Domenico
Cassini (1625–1712) wanted to make Paris observatory an outstanding instrument
of astronomy, each in his own way. The result was an impressive palace building
with an assembly hall for the Academy of Sciences. For observation purposes, a
platform was provided for the long telescopes on the roof of the building.
Johannes Hevelius (1611–1687),
7
beer brewer and lord mayor of the Free and
Hanseatic City of Danzig (today Gdańsk, Poland), built his private observatory in
1649, enlarged on a platform above the roofs of his three burger houses
(Stellaeburgum, 1650–1679) (Fig. 3). Here, he observed and produced high precision star catalogues together with his wife Elisabetha Catherina Hevelius, born
Koopmann (1647–1693). It was the largest observatory of the time and was
destroyed by fire in 1679.
8
Very similar was Eimmart’s Observatory (1677–1757) in the Free Imperial City
of Nuremberg, Franconia, established on the Vestnertor bastion of the fortification
of Nuremberg castle. Georg Christoph Eimmart (1638–1705) built this observatory
in 1677 for research and particularly for training astronomers. It was one of the
major observatories of Europe’s Baroque period with a large collection of instruments and telescopes, but this open-air observatory survived only until 1757.
9
6 See Klamt (1999).
7 Hewelcke or Polish Jan Heweliusz.
8 For more details about the observatory and its instruments, see Kampa (2018).
9 See Wolfschmidt (2010).
Cultural Heritage of Observatories in Context with the IAU–UNESCO Initiative…