Ole Rømer Observatory () is an astronomical

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 ...

and museum, built in 1911 and located in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

, Denmark. It is operated by

Aarhus University Aarhus University (, abbreviated AU) is a public research university. Its main campus is located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Group, the Guild, and Ut ...

and functions both as a research and training laboratory for the university Institute for Physics and Astronomy and a museum offering guided tours and lectures. It is named after astronomer

Ole Rømer Ole Christensen Rømer (; 25 September 1644 – 19 September 1710) was a Danes, Danish astronomer who, in 1676, first demonstrated that light travels at a finite speed. Rømer also invented the modern thermometer showing the temperature between ...

, and the buildings were listed in 2006 as a fine example of Danish

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

architecture (Danish: ''Skønvirke''). The facility also includes a residential house, originally and formerly home to the director of the observatory, today used as a guest house for visiting researchers. The observatory facilitates education, public outreach and research as part of an original agreement when it was built. The observatory offers presentations and discussions on a broad array of astronomical topics on selected evenings and when the sky is clear the observatory's two 11-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes are employed.

History

In September 1908 Victor Nielsen, an astronomer at the

Uraniborg Uraniborg was an astronomical observatory and alchemy laboratory established and operated by the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. It was the first custom-built observatory in modern Europe, and the last to be built without a telescope as its pr ...

observatory, contacted the city council of Aarhus and informed them that the German astronomer Friedrich Krüger from

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

would move to Aarhus with his instruments in exchange for a parcel of land. Krüger sent an application on 4 December describing his previous work, publications and instruments and a suggestion for a deal contingent on 3 conditions: * The city of Aarhus had to build the observatory * Krüger would donate all his instruments to the city * The observatory should be in the service of education The city council discussed the matter on 25 February 1909 with a positive outcome and on 3 June it was decided to build the observatory and accept the 3 conditions. It took two years from the initial agreement until the buildings stood finished. Designed by architect

Anton Rosen Anton Rosen (13 September 1859 – 2 July 1928) was a Danish architect, furniture designer, decorative artist and professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. In his architecture, he combined a free Historicist style with inspirati ...

, the Ole Rømer Observatory was inaugurated on 15 October 1911. Krüger worked as director until his death on 6 January 1916, followed by Ruben Andersen until he died on 30 April 1955. The observatory was handed over to

on 1 September 1956 and on 1 April of the same year, dr. Mogens Rudkjøbing became professor of

Astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

at Aarhus University and new director for the observatory. The current telescopes were installed in the 1950s. In 1974, the Institute for Astronomy moved into the university campus in the same building as the Institute for Physics, and in 1990 the departments merged to form the Institute for Physics and Astronomy. Between 1981 and 1994, Krügers former residence became a museum. The Ole Rømer Observatory was listed in January 2006 by the

Danish Heritage Agency The Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces () is an agency under the aegis of the Danish Ministry of Culture. The agency carries out the cultural policies of the Danish government within the visual and performing arts, music, literature, museums, h ...

, almost 100 years after it was completed in 1911. The reasons cited was the uniqueness of the architecture which unites the

arts and crafts movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...

of the time with a functionalist impression and that it was designed by

, a prolific 20th-century Danish architect.

Friedrich Krüger

During the construction phase of the observatory there was a heated debate in newspapers, among others

Århus Stiftstidende ''Århus Stiftstidende'' (colloquially ''Stiften'') is a Danish language, Danish newspaper based in Aarhus, Denmark, focusing largely on local topics. The independent newspaper with a bourgeois character has suffered a considerable decline in ci ...

, regarding Friedrich Krügers intentions. The

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War (; or German Danish War), also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War, was the second military conflict over the Schleswig–Holstein question of the nineteenth century. The war began on 1 Februar ...

and the loss of Schleswing-

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

in 1864 was still recent memory so Germans was viewed with suspicion. Krügers heritage was an issue until his death in 1916. Krüger was frequently accused of being a spy which became more of an issue after his son joined the German army during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Various theories emerged; it was thought the telescopes could be used to observe shipping in the

Bay of Aarhus The Bay of Aarhus, or Aarhus Bay, is a Danish waterway by Aarhus in eastern Jutland. The Bay of Aarhus is bounded by Kalø Vig in the north, Sletterhage and Helgenæs in the east, Samsø and Tunø to the south and the east Jutland coast to the ...

, that there were radio transmitters used to send information to Germany, that the telescopes could be used to send

morse code Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...

to German war ships and that the foundation under the telescopes were actually meant for cannons. The police and military took the rumours seriously enough to surveil and search the observatory, but it was subsequently concluded that Krüger was not a spy. The tense atmosphere took a heavy toll on Krüger.

Buildings

The Ole Rømer Observatory consists of the observatory building and the anxillary directors residence including a small outbuilding, all designed by

. Construction began in 1909 and was completed in 1911. The observatory is placed on a small hill close to Aarhus Racecourse and the

Marselisborg Palace Marselisborg Palace (, ) is a royal residence of the Danish royal family in Aarhus. It has been the summer residence of Queen Margrethe II since 1967. There is a Palace Park in connection to the palace itself and outside the grounds, stretching ...

Højbjerg Højbjerg is a postal district of Aarhus, Denmark. Højbjerg originated as a coastal suburb to the south of Aarhus, but has now completely merged with the city. Højbjerg is located 5 km from the city centre and had a population of 22,000 i ...

in the south-eastern outskirts of Aarhus city. At the time of construction, it was undisturbed by the lights from the city, making observations a bit easier than nowadays. The observatory building consists of a central house with a hall, office, workshop and classroom and two rotating

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

s for telescopes adjoining its sides. The hall is equipped with Greek inspired columns and decorative details in the form of reliefs and carpentry. The entire building is oriented according to the

four corners of the world Several cosmological and mythological systems portray four corners of the world or four quarters of the world corresponding approximately to the four points of the compass (or the two solstices and two equinoxes). At the center may lie a sacred ...

, with the movable zink clad observing cupolas north and east of the central room. The basement holds a

darkroom A darkroom is used to process photographic film, make Photographic printing, prints and carry out other associated tasks. It is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of light-sensitive photographic materials, including ...

and timing equipment. The outside architecture displays the

arts and crafts style The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

with a base of

fieldstone Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the Earth. Fieldstone is a nuisance for farmers seeking to expand their land under cultivation, but at some point it began to be used as a construction mate ...

in two sizes, low plastered walls and a tiled

mansard A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...

-like roof. The large directors residence, situated north of the observatory itself, has an irregular appearance, featuring a front dormer, both hipped and half-hipped roofs, side dormers oriel and porch. The building is plastered and has a characteristic tiled roof. The original overall room structure has been preserved, although some changes was made, when it was turned into a guest house in 2012. There are four apartments in all, named after the astronomers

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

Brahe The Brahe family (originally ''Bragde'') refers to two closely related noble families of Scanian origin that played significant roles in both Danish and Swedish history. The Danish branch became extinct in 1786, and the Swedish branch in 193 ...

Kopernikus Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its center. Copernicus likely developed his model independently of Aris ...

and

Kepler Johannes Kepler (27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws of p ...

Telescopes

The cupolas previously held a 40 cm. and a 50 cm.

Cassegrain telescope The Cassegrain reflector is a combination of a primary concave mirror and a secondary convex mirror, often used in optical telescopes and radio antennas, the main characteristic being that the optical path folds back onto itself, relative to th ...

but in 2004 they were replaced with two 28 cm

Celestron Celestron, LLC is a company that manufactures telescopes and distributes telescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, microscopes, and accessories manufactured by its parent company, the Synta Technology Corporation of Taiwan. History The predecessor ...

Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes. In 2013 the 50 cm. telescope was renovated and put back into use.

References

;Publications *

External links