310
7 IAU List of “Outstanding Astronomical Heritage” (OAH)
The web-based “Portal to the Heritage of Astronomy” (www.astronomicalheritage.
net) introduced by Clive Ruggles, includes case studies and tools vital for State
Parties (national governments) developing nomination dossiers, but also provides
public dissemination of this information.
It is sometimes difficult for observatories from Renaissance to the twentieth century to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage list, as their architecture cannot
claim to be of “Outstanding Universal Value” (OUV). The guidelines require such
structures to be “an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or
technological ensemble which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history”.
The first important condition for UNESCO nomination is the site, the observatory building and the fixed instruments (fixed tangible heritage). All the moveable
instruments and their scientific uses and results (intangible heritage) can then be
included as an additional issue. However, there exist observatories, in which the
building is severely damaged, destroyed or it does not fulfil the “authenticity” and
“integrity” standards, the instruments no longer exist in situ, but which as institutions have played a significant role in the history of astronomy regarding scientific
output, having carried out cutting-edge research in astronomy and astrophysics. For
such cases, the idea has been discussed to create an IAU List of “Outstanding
Astronomical Heritage” (OAH).
23
This contains astronomical heritage sites of the
utmost importance, regardless of whether they are recognized as World Heritage
Sites by UNESCO. The OAH list was launched at the IAU‘s 2018 General Assembly
in Vienna.
For example, I would like to propose the inclusion of observatories like the
Potsdam Astrophysical Observatory, where astronomers are no longer working
(they moved to Potsdam-Babelsberg Observatory), or even observatories like Gotha
or Göttingen, international centres of astronomy around 1800. In Gotha, only the
basis of the meridian circle is still present, but its instruments are all displayed in
museums and a large quantity of archive material exists. The best example is Tycho
Brahe’s observatory at Uraniborg, now completely destroyed, but a few of its instruments have been reconstructed. In addition, we can add to the OAH Hevelius observatory in Danzig (Gdańsk), the Jesuit colonial observatories, and many more like
the recent modern observatories. The OAH list was presented by me in the IAU GA
in Vienna (2018) and it will be enlarged in the next few years.
23 OAH: https://www.astronomicalheritage.net/index.php/heritage/outstanding-astronomical-heritage. (Accessed 1 January 2020).
G. Wolfschmidt
7 IAU List of “Outstanding Astronomical Heritage” (OAH)
The web-based “Portal to the Heritage of Astronomy” (www.astronomicalheritage.
net) introduced by Clive Ruggles, includes case studies and tools vital for State
Parties (national governments) developing nomination dossiers, but also provides
public dissemination of this information.
It is sometimes difficult for observatories from Renaissance to the twentieth century to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage list, as their architecture cannot
claim to be of “Outstanding Universal Value” (OUV). The guidelines require such
structures to be “an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or
technological ensemble which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history”.
The first important condition for UNESCO nomination is the site, the observatory building and the fixed instruments (fixed tangible heritage). All the moveable
instruments and their scientific uses and results (intangible heritage) can then be
included as an additional issue. However, there exist observatories, in which the
building is severely damaged, destroyed or it does not fulfil the “authenticity” and
“integrity” standards, the instruments no longer exist in situ, but which as institutions have played a significant role in the history of astronomy regarding scientific
output, having carried out cutting-edge research in astronomy and astrophysics. For
such cases, the idea has been discussed to create an IAU List of “Outstanding
Astronomical Heritage” (OAH).
23
This contains astronomical heritage sites of the
utmost importance, regardless of whether they are recognized as World Heritage
Sites by UNESCO. The OAH list was launched at the IAU‘s 2018 General Assembly
in Vienna.
For example, I would like to propose the inclusion of observatories like the
Potsdam Astrophysical Observatory, where astronomers are no longer working
(they moved to Potsdam-Babelsberg Observatory), or even observatories like Gotha
or Göttingen, international centres of astronomy around 1800. In Gotha, only the
basis of the meridian circle is still present, but its instruments are all displayed in
museums and a large quantity of archive material exists. The best example is Tycho
Brahe’s observatory at Uraniborg, now completely destroyed, but a few of its instruments have been reconstructed. In addition, we can add to the OAH Hevelius observatory in Danzig (Gdańsk), the Jesuit colonial observatories, and many more like
the recent modern observatories. The OAH list was presented by me in the IAU GA
in Vienna (2018) and it will be enlarged in the next few years.
23 OAH: https://www.astronomicalheritage.net/index.php/heritage/outstanding-astronomical-heritage. (Accessed 1 January 2020).
G. Wolfschmidt