History
Its origins base on a first observatory on the roof of the Zunfthaus zur Meisen. In 1759, so called «Astronomische Kommission» succeeded from this location for the first time, to define Culminatio solis and thus calculated the exact global location of the city of Zurich. In later years, astronomical observations were done from the Grossmünster's southern «Karl's tower», followed by scientific obsevations (not for public use by interested enthusiasts) from the Federal observatory, built 1861/64 for ETH Zürich by Gottfried Semper.
In 1899, the Zürich merchant Abraham Weill Einstein initiated the oldest observatory in Switzerland, situated near Werdmühleplatz (Uraniastrasse). On June 15, 1907, the observatory was given to operational use. Its approximately 51 meter high tower, dominating western end of Zurich's historical Altstadt.
Read more about this topic: Urania Sternwarte
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“False history gets made all day, any day,
the truth of the new is never on the news
False history gets written every day
...
the lesbian archaeologist watches herself
sifting her own life out from the shards she’s piecing,
asking the clay all questions but her own.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“The best history is but like the art of Rembrandt; it casts a vivid light on certain selected causes, on those which were best and greatest; it leaves all the rest in shadow and unseen.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)
“There is no history of how bad became better.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)