Friedrich Burmeister (1890–1969) was a German

geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...

. He was director of the Munich University’s

Geomagnetic Earth's magnetic field, also known as the geomagnetic field, is the magnetic field that extends from structure of Earth, Earth's interior out into space, where it interacts with the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emanating from ...

Observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

. Burmeister studied mathematics and physics at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

under

Hugo von Seeliger Hugo von Seeliger (23 September 1849 – 2 December 1924), also known as Hugo Hans Ritter von Seeliger, was a German astronomer, often considered the most important astronomer of his day. Biography He was born in Biala, completed high school in ...

and

Arnold Sommerfeld Arnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld (; 5 December 1868 – 26 April 1951) was a German Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist who pioneered developments in Atomic physics, atomic and Quantum mechanics, quantum physics, and also educated and ...

, and he received his doctorate in 1919. Upon graduation, he became Director of the Munich Geomagnetic Observatory, of the Geomagnetism Branch of the Munich Earth Observatory, under the Geophysics Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, at the University of Munich. Due to the industrialization of Munich, operation of the observatory became more and more difficult, so, in 1927 the Munich Geomagnetic Observatory was closed and moved to a village 25 kilometers west of Munich, and it became the

Maisach Maisach () is a municipality in the district of Fürstenfeldbruck, in Bavaria, Germany. Geography Maisach is the largest municipality in the Fürstenfeldbruck district. It is situated north of Fürstenfeldbruck, and northwest of Munich. It is ...

Geomagnetic Observatory. Due to the construction of a large military air base near Maisach, this facility was closed on October 31, 1937. It was moved to a small town west of Munich, and it became the

Fürstenfeldbruck Fürstenfeldbruck () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, 32 kilometres west of Munich. It is the capital of the district of Fürstenfeldbruck. it had a population of 35,494. Since the 1930s Fürstenfeldbruck has had an air force base. Geography F ...

Geomagnetic Observatory where measurements began on 1 January 1939 under Burmeister as its inaugural director. Burmeister retired as director of the observatory in 1958, whereupon Karl Wienert was appointed to the position.Burmeister
– Personal Data

Works

*Richard Bock, F. Burmeister, Friedrich Errulat: ''Magnetische Reichsvermesung 1935. O.T. 1. (Tabellen)'' (Akademie-Verlag, 1948)

Notes

1890 births 1969 deaths German geophysicists Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni {{Germany-physicist-stub