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The Teylers astronomical observatory (Dutch: Teylers Sterrenwacht) is an
about the observatory. (Dutch)
photo of the removal of the staircase in the process or renovation
/ref>Teyler 1778-1978. Studies en bijdragen over Teylers Stichting naar aanleiding van het tweede eeuwfeest (Haarlem / Antwerpen 1978), p 189 Though they have not survived, the Teylers archives have evidence that Vincent Jansz van der Vinne was paid 86 guilders for painting the "walls and ceilings of the cupula". That was not the only artwork that early stargazers met with when they climbed the stairs. On the rooftop of the first staircase a vase was installed that was delivered by Jan Woortman in 1781. Though lost since, the vase can be seen in the painting of the courtyard of the Foundation house by Wybrand Hendriks. The vase was the trademark of Teyler, and is visible on the top of Van Marum's electrostatic generator as well. The observatory can be reached via a staircase from the Grote Herenkamer (large board room), which is located next to the Oval Room. That staircase leads the visitor to the lower roof, where a steep open air wooden staircase leads to the small room on top of the dome. For precision measurements, a new observatorium was built in the garden, that was later used as a studio by the later curator
The Teylers astronomical observatory (Dutch: Teylers Sterrenwacht) 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 ...
built in 1784 on the roof of the Oval Room of the Teylers Museum
Teylers Museum () is an Art museum, art, Natural history museum, natural history, and science museum in Haarlem, Netherlands. Established in 1778, Teylers Museum was founded as a centre for contemporary art and science. The historic centre of the ...
in Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...
.Teylers Museumabout the observatory. (Dutch)
History
The observatory was built on the suggestion of Jacobus Barnaart, one of the five initial directors of theTeylers Stichting
The Teylers Stichting (English: Teylers Foundation) is a Dutch Foundation (non-profit), foundation founded with the heritage of the Dutch 18th century cloth merchant and banker Pieter Teyler van der Hulst to support the people in need and encourage ...
, which was the foundation responsible for taking care of the inheritance of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst
Pieter Teyler van der Hulst (25 March 1702 – 8 April 1778) was a wealthy Dutch Mennonite merchant and banker, who died childless, leaving a legacy of two million florins (in today's terms: about EUR 80 million) to the pursuit of religion, arts ...
. Barnaart was an amateur scientist who had a great interest in astronomy and wanted to build a state-of-the-art astronomical observatory on the roof of the Oval Room. This proved to be a bad idea, because the roof was made of wood, which transfers too many vibrations to make reliable and precise observations. Hence a belvedère was built instead, a square tower with two doors in each wall.
Though the observatory couldn't be used for precision measurements, it was still used for manual observations. The collection of the Teylers physical cabinet contains several telescope
A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...
s and other devices that were used. Until 1817 the observatory also had a camera obscura
A camera obscura (; ) is the natural phenomenon in which the rays of light passing through a aperture, small hole into a dark space form an image where they strike a surface, resulting in an inverted (upside down) and reversed (left to right) ...
, which was used for drawings of the view from the little tower./ref>Teyler 1778-1978. Studies en bijdragen over Teylers Stichting naar aanleiding van het tweede eeuwfeest (Haarlem / Antwerpen 1978), p 189 Though they have not survived, the Teylers archives have evidence that Vincent Jansz van der Vinne was paid 86 guilders for painting the "walls and ceilings of the cupula". That was not the only artwork that early stargazers met with when they climbed the stairs. On the rooftop of the first staircase a vase was installed that was delivered by Jan Woortman in 1781. Though lost since, the vase can be seen in the painting of the courtyard of the Foundation house by Wybrand Hendriks. The vase was the trademark of Teyler, and is visible on the top of Van Marum's electrostatic generator as well. The observatory can be reached via a staircase from the Grote Herenkamer (large board room), which is located next to the Oval Room. That staircase leads the visitor to the lower roof, where a steep open air wooden staircase leads to the small room on top of the dome. For precision measurements, a new observatorium was built in the garden, that was later used as a studio by the later curator
Jan van Borssum Buisman
Jan Hendrik van Borssum Buisman (1919, Haarlem – 23 February 2012, Haarlem), was a 20th-century painter from the Netherlands.
Biography
According to the RKD he was the son of Hendrik van Borssum Buisman.Teylers Museum
18th-century architecture in the Netherlands
nl:Teylers Museum#Sterrenwacht