History
- at Stintfang (1802–1811)
The precursor of Hamburg observatory was a private observatory by Johann Georg Repsold built in 1802, originally located at the Stintfang in Hamburg. It started in 1803 with a meridian circle built by Repsold in 1808. However, it was destroyed in 1811 by a war. Repsold, Reinke, and J.C. von Hess submitted a proposal to Hamburg for city observatory that same year, to rebuild.
- at Millerntor (1825–1906)
Funding for a new Observatory was approved in August 1821, on the condition J. G. Repsold built the instruments. The new observatory was completed in 1825 next to the Millerntor. However, in 1830 Repsold died while fighting a fire (he was also a Hamburg fireman) and the City of Hamburg voted to take over and continue running the observatory in 1833. First director became Charles Rümker who har accompanied Thomas Brisbane to build the first Australian observatory at Parramatta. Christian August Friedrich Peters became assistant director in 1834. In 1856 Rümker's son George became director of the observatory.
In 1876 funding was received for 'The Equatorial', a 27 cm (10.6 inch) refractor;it was later moved to Bergedorf.
After the move to Bergedorf, the site was partially demolished and rebuilt into the Museum of Hamburg History (Hamburgmuseum / Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte).
- at Bergedorf (1912– )
Because of the increasing light pollution, in 1906 it was decided to move the observatory to Bergedorf. In 1909 the first instruments were moved there, and in 1912 the new observatory was officially dedicated.
The European Southern Observatory was founded at Bergedorf in 1962.
The Hamburg 1m Reflector (39 in/100 cm objective aperture) was the world's fourth largest reflector when it began operations in 1911. Catalogs include the AGK3-Sternkatalog (completed over 1956-1964)
In 1968 the observatory became part of Hamburg University. In 1979 a small museum to Bernard Schmidt was inaugurated. In 2012, 100 years at Bergedorf was celebrated.
Read more about this topic: Hamburg-Bergedorf Observatory
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