Timekeeping, Navigation, Surveying -
Cultural Astronomy and Instruments

32th European Society for Astronomy in Culture (SEAC)
& Gesellschaft für Archäoastronomie (GfA)
Hamburg, Mo to Sa, August 25-30, 2025,

organised by Gudrun Wolfschmidt

Workshop: Classical Observatories and UNESCO World Heritage (IAU C.C4 and WG "Windows to the Universe - Classical and Modern Observatories"
Hamburg, Sunday, August 31, 2025

Hamburg Observatory
(Photos: Gudrun Wolfschmidt)

Welcome, Committees, Abstracts, Registration, Programme & Booklet of Abstracts,
Excursion, Workshop IAU C4, Links, HVV, Tourist, Tours around Hamburg, Accomodation

Welcome

Above: Port of Hamburg, Landungsbrücken,
Below: Container Port, Oevelgönne (traditional ships, lighthouse, light vessel `Elbe 3')
(Photos: Gudrun Wolfschmidt)

Welcome to Hamburg -- Gateway to the World

Hamburg was founded in the time of Charlemagne around 800. and is situated on the rivers Elbe, Alster and Bille. This green city has Hanseatic tradition and an inspiring cosmopolitan atmosphere. Hamburg is called `Gateway to the World'.
One can find a mix of culture (museums, music, theatres), gastronomy and nightlife. Landmarks are St. Michaelis Church (8-m-tower clock - the largest in Germany) and the Elbphilharmonie concert hall (Herzog & de Meuron, 2017) -- an architectural highlight, as well as the Chile House (a `Kontorhaus' / office building in expressionistic style, Fritz Höger, 1922-1924) with the large Warehouse complex, called `Speicherstadt' (1888) -- both Unesco World Heritage, and the modern HafenCity (Port City).

Hamburg has a maritime atmosphere (sailing ship Rickmer Rickmers 1896, cargo vessel Cap San Diego 1961, Light vessel LV13 1952, Light vessel / Feuerschiff "Elbe 3" 1888, Viermastbark "Peking" 1911) with the the third biggest container port in Europe. The old port was at Nikolaifleet (`Binnenhafen'), used for sailing ships until around 1900, then Landungsbrücken for steamships. The Navigation School was founded in 1749, in 1790 moved to the `Baumhaus'.
Astronomy and navigation played a major role: Johann Georg Repsold (1770--1830) founded a private observatory (1802--1812) on the `Stintfang' (smelt fishing) hill at Landungsbrücken. The Deutsche Seewarte (German Maritime Observatory) with Chronometer Testing Institute was built there (1875).
In addition, the Altona Observatory, Palmaille 9, famous for surveying (Danmark, Hamburg, Kingdom of Hanover), existed from 1821 to 1873 with Heinrich Christian Schumacher (1780--1850) as first director.
The *new' Hamburg Observatory with Navigation School was founded at `Millerntor' (Gate of the Windmills) in 1825. A monument for Repsold (1833) markes the place today. For timekeeping a time ball was erected on the Kaispeicher A (a brick warehouse, now Elbphilharmonie) in 1876, which was in use until 1934. The Millerntor Observatory was replaced by the Museum of Hamburg History, founded in 1908, built by Fritz Schumacher (1869--1947), and opened in 1922. The (new) Hamburg Observatory got an impressive Astronomy Park Ensemble, built by Albert Erbe (1906--1912) in Bergedorf.

The SEAC conference will bring together researchers, scholars, and enthusiasts from around the world. They will explore how astronomy, culture, and instruments intersect in various contexts. The conference will examine historical and modern methods of timekeeping, navigation, and land surveying. These practices have played key roles in shaping societies and their understanding of the cosmos.

General Information:

Locations

Centre for History of Science and Technology,
Geomatikum, University of Hamburg
Bundesstrasse 55 Geomatikum, 20146 Hamburg
Hamburg Observatory, University of Hamburg,
Gojenbergsweg 112, 21029 Hamburg

Deadlines

Dec. 31, 2024 -- Website, first version
Jan. 15, 2025 -- Call for papers open (abstracts for lectures & posters)
March 31, 2025 -- Call for papers end
May 15, 2025 -- Communication if papers are accepted
May 31, 2025 -- Early Bird Registration -
Deadline for presenters to pay the fee
July 15, 2025 -- Late Registration
August 25-29, 2025 -- SEAC Annual Meeting
August 30, 2025 -- Excursion to Lübeck
August 31, 2025 -- Workshop: Classical Observatories and UNESCO World Heritage (IAU C.C4)

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Committees

Scientific Organizing Committee (SOC):

Prof. Dr. Gudrun Wolfschmidt (University of Hamburg, Germany)
Prof. Dr. Rita Gautschy (University of Basel, Switzerland)
Dr. Michael Rappenglück (Gilching, Germany)
Dr. Georg Zotti (Vienna, Austia)
Prof. Manuela Incerti, PhD (Ferrara, Italy)
Dr. A. César González-García (Santiago de Compostela, Spain)
Prof. Marc Frincu, PhD (West University of Timisoara, Romania)
Prof. Dr. Penka Maglova-Stoeva (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria)
Dr. Frank Prendergast (Technological University Dublin, Ireland)
Prof. Kim Malville, PhD (University of Colorado, USA)
Dr. Burkard Steinrücken (Recklinghausen, Germany)

Local Organizing Committee (LOC):

Gudrun Wolfschmidt (GNT, Universität Hamburg)

Assistants -- Helfer

Astrid Wokke (Bremen, Germany)
Dr. Katrin Cura (GNT, Universität Hamburg)
Dr.cand. Dipl.-Phys. Yang-Hyun Choi (GNT, Universität Hamburg)
Dr.cand. Dipl.-Phys. Carsten Busch (GNT, Universität Hamburg)?
Dr.cand. Heidi Tauber, M.A. (GNT, Universität Hamburg)
Dr.cand. Dipl.-Phys. Björn Kunzmann (GNT, Universität Hamburg)?
Dipl.-Ing. Jürgen Gottschalk (GNT, Universität Hamburg)

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Deadline for Abstracts

Abstracts for Lectures and Posters Call for Abstracts

Topics of the Abstracts:

We cordially invite you to present and discuss your contributions on the topics of

timekeeping
navigation
surveying
cultural astronomy
archaeoastronomy
ethnoastronomy
history of science
heritage of astronomy

Relationships between cultural astronomy and other disciplines
(e.g. archaeology, anthropology, architecture, art, metrology, philosophy) can also be discussed.

Authors are required to send an extended abstract clearly explaining the background,
the data, the results, and the conclusions with the following requirements:

ca. 500-700 words
at least 3 references
3-5 keywords
up to 2 color images may be included (300dpi)
a short biographical information
please send it in Word or LaTeX

Please indicate whether your contribution is intended
as an oral presentation or as a poster contribution.
Only one abstract per person as first author will be accepted!

Deadline for abstracts: March 31, 2025.

Please send your abstract to SEAC email

All accepted abstracts will be published in an abstract booklet.

The proceedings book will be published in my series SEAC Publications.

Registration - Conference fee - SEAC Travel Grants

Deadline: May 31, 2025.

Registration Form (updated)

Conference fee

Please look at Public transport and Deutschlandticket (book in July!)

Early Bird:

(the conference fee includes: 2 Coffee breaks each day, 3 days Lunch in the observatory,
Booklet of Abstracts, Planetarium, material and organisation, and the proceedings book).

300.- Euro for SEAC or GfA members
200.- Euro for Students
400.- Euro for non members

free - Accompanying person (only for guided tours),
but dinner and excursion must be booked separately.

50.- Dinner (August 29, 2025)

25.- Excursion to Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein
Tickets for the museums and the church included
(but you need to have your own public transport ticket (HVV);
there is no lunch or dinner included).

Late Registration - until 15 July 2025:

400.- Euro for SEAC or GfA members,
300.- Euro for Students
500.- Euro for non members

SEAC Travel Grants for Master Students, PhDs, Postdocs

A grant worth 500 Euros will be offered by SEAC to young scientists working in cultural astronomy. Applicants must be postgraduate students working on either a Masters or a PhD degree with a subject on some aspect of astronomy in culture or must have completed such a degree not earlier than 2020. Applicants may be not older than 35. The grant will be presented upon registration at the conference. The process of selection will be under the responsibility of the Board of SEAC. The applications together with an abstract of 600 words plus bibliography should be sent no later than 31 May 2025 (SEAC-2025-email). Please include - letter of motivation - your abstract - a letter of reference from you (former) advisor.

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Programme

Booklet of Abstracts (will be updated)

Hamburg, Geomatikum, Monday, August 25, 2025

Click on the image for enlarging

Geomatikum, Bundesstrasse 55, 20146 Hamburg

Public Transport:
Metro U3 stop Schlump
or Bus 4, 5 and 15 stop Schlump/Bundesstrasse
or Bus X35 stop Zoologisches Museum

9:30 h - Registration
10:00 h Lectures
25 min & 5 min discussion

Session 1: Stone Age until the Eneolithic
Chair: ....
10:00 h - Welcome
10:15-10:45 h - Michael A. Rappenglück (Gilching, Germany):
Stellar Signposts: Upper Paleolithic Hunter-Gatherers watched the Pleiades -
Evidence, Context, and Purpose
10:45-11:15 h - A. César González-García (Santiago de Compostela, Spain) &
Francisco Javier Gutiérrez López (Madrid, Spain) & Raúl Martín Vela (Bernardos, Spain):
The Dolmen of Santa Inés and its illumination phaenomena
11:15-11:45 h - Coffee Break
11:45-12:15 h - .... (withdrawn)
Claude Maumené (Orange, France):
Beyond salt: a neolithic funerary vessel as a possible astronomical tool?
12:15-14:00 h - Mittagessen / Lunch
Selfservice Mensa or Bistro, Cafeteria in the Geomatikum -
14:00-14:30 h - Penka Maglova, Mina Spasova,
Ognyan Ognyanov, Alexey Stoev (Sofia, Bulgaria):
Archaeoacoustic studies of the Eneolithic calendar gallery
in the Magura cave, Rabisha village, Bulgaria
14:30-15:00 h - Alexey Stoev, Hristina Valchanova,
Mina Spasova, Penka Maglova (Sofia, Bulgaria):
Dualism in the sacred territories of rock sanctuaries in the Western Rhodopes,
related to astronomical practices in the Eneolithic
15:00-15:30 h - Coffee Break

Left: Stars show the way -
Navigation in Hamburg

Right: Port of Hamburg
(Photos: Gudrun Wolfschmidt)

200 Years Hamburg Observatory
founded at Millerntor in 1825
by Johann Georg Repsold.
15:30 h - City Walk in Hamburg
with the emphasis on Astronomy, Navigation, Timekeeping, Surveying.
Evening Dinner proposal:
Blockbräu, St. Pauli Landungsbrücken
or somewhere in the Hafencity

Hamburg, Geomatikum, Tuesday, August 26, 2025

10:00 h Lectures

Session 2: Ancient Cultures - From Egypt to the Romans
Chair: ....
10:00-10:30 h - Susanne M. Hoffmann:
Natural Calendars all over the World: All Skies Encyclopaedia
10:30-11:00 h - Konstantin Kokkolis (Kefalonia, Greece):
Kangelisses - Lakithra: a Winter Solstice Alignment Leads to a Discovery
of a Bronze Age Site in Kefalonia, Greece
11:00-11:30 h - Coffee Break
11:30-12:00 h - Marianna Ridderstad (Helsinki, Finland):
Possible Egyptian influences in the orientations of the Minoan palace of Phaistos
12:00-12:30 h - Marco V. García Quintela & A. César González García
(Santiago de Compostela, Spain):
Time, society, and vernacular arithmetic in democratic Athens
12:30-14:00 h - Mittagessen / Lunch
Selfservice Mensa or Bistro, Cafeteria in Geomatikum -
14:00-14:30 h - Romain Ravignot (Sorbonne, Paris, France &
Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain):
The water clock discovered in the Frankfurt Rhine:
highlighting an entangled temporality
14:30-15:15 h - Postersession in Lecture Room (5min each)
- Göran Henriksson (Uppsala, Sweden):
  Early Neolithic Lunar Observations at Stonehenge
- Chandrashekar Bhupasandra Ugranarsimhaiah
  (Bengaluru, Karnataka, India):
  The Celestial Mirror of Madurai
- Alessandro Berio (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil):
  The Minoan Sidereal Compass:
  Reconstructing Bronze Age Trade Routes through Arcturus
- Karl Albrecht (Kassel, Germany):
  Der Diskos von Phaistos (Kreta) - ein Kalender?
- Romain Ravignot (Sorbonne, Paris, France &
  Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain):
  Orientation of sanctuaries and public spaces in the Centre Region
  (Turones, Carnutes, and Bituriges) from the Gallic to the Augustan period:
  a key to locating the Caesarian Locus Consecratus?
- Themis Dallas (University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece) &
  Maitane Urrutia-Aparicio (La Orotava, Tenerife, Spain):
  Are any Byzantine churches in Cyprus converted mosques?
  An archaeoastronomical approach
- Mauro Peppino Zedda (Sardinia) &
  Themis Dallas (University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece):
  Further Thoughts on the Accuracy of Online Tools from Sardinia
- Harald Gropp (Heidelberg, Germany):
  The European `Discovery' of the `Mar del Sur' --
  Early Navigation in and Cartography of the Pacific Ocean
15:15-16:30 h - Postersession and Coffee Break

Planetarium Hamburg
(Photos: Gudrun Wolfschmidt)
18.00 -- 21 h
Planetarium Hamburg,
Linnering 1 (Stadtpark), 22299 Hamburg
Metro U3 stop Borgweg (Stadtpark), and a walk of 690m (11 min)
18.00 -- 19.30 h - Visit of the Exhibition
Aby Warburg (1866-1929) Exhibition --
Cultural History of Astronomy and Astrology (Mnemosyne),
originally opened in 1930 in the Planetarium Hamburg.
There is also a Bistro in the Planetarium.
19.30 h -- Public Lecture - Öffentlicher Abendvortrag
Dr. Michael Rappenglück (Gilching, Germany):
Humans and the Cosmos:
From the World Cave to the Big Bang --
Anthropology, Ecospheres, and Cultural Cosmologies

Hamburg Observatory, Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Gojenbergsweg 112, 21029 Hamburg-Bergedorf

Public Transport to Hamburg Observatory in Bergedorf:
Start: S-Bahn S2 - Bahnhof Dammtor/Messe CCH (Gleis 2)
9:03 - 9:26 Bahnhof Bergedorf (Gleis 3)

Gleis 1 - Bus Platform G
Bus 135 (Ringlinie) - Bahnhof Bergedorf 9:34 - 9:44
Justus-Brinckmann-Straße (7 min walk)
Bus 332 - Bahnhof Bergedorf 9:46 - 9:57 Sternwarte (Universität)

10:00-12:30 h Lectures - Hamburg Observatory

Session 3: Medieval and Renaissance Culture
Chair: ....
10:00-10:30 h - Patrick McCafferty (Chemnitz, Germany):
The Three Gifts of a Charioteer
10:30-11:00 h - Manuela Incerti (Ferrara, Italy):
Geometric Analysis and Advanced Surveying Techniques
in the Study of Early Christian Starry Skies
11.00-11:30 h Coffee Break
11:30-12:00 h - Maitane Urrutia-Aparicio (La Orotava, Tenerife, Spain) &
Marc Frincu (Timisoara, Romania):
Where East meets West: A preliminary analysis
of the orientation of historical churches in Romania
12:00-12:30 h - Thiago Siqueira dos Reis da Silva,
Walmir Thomazi Cardoso (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) &
Sixto Ramón Giménez Benítez (La Plata, Argentina):
Astronomy, Defense, and Faith: The Astronomical Alignment
of Catholic Churches in the Historic Center of Rio de Janeiro
12:30-14:00 h - Mittagessen / Lunch
14:00-14:30 h - Burkard Steinrücken (Recklinghausen, Germany):
The planets on the old astronomical clock in Münster
14:30-15:00 h - Gudrun Wolfschmidt (Hamburg, Germany):
Astronomical Clocks and Gottorf Globe -
Astronomical Heritage in the Baltic

Click on the image for enlarging
15:00-15:30 h Coffee Break

Left: Equatorial, Merz of Munich & Repsold of Hamburg (1867)
Right: Model of the Time Ball in Hamburg (1876-1934)
15:30-17:30 h
Gudrun Wolfschmidt and Matthias Hünsch (guided tour):
The Hamburg Observatory in Bergedorf,
a culturally and historically significant ensemble

Bergedorfer Schloss / Castle
(Photo: Gudrun Wolfschmidt)
Short Sightseeing in Bergedorf
(you can also get some food)
20:00 h Public lecture (German) -
Library, Hamburg Observatory
Prof. Dr. Rita Gautschy (Basel, Switzerland):
Zeit und Zeitmessung im Alten Ägypten (PDF)
(Time and time keeping in ancient Egypt)

Hamburg Observatory, Thursday, August 28, 2025

Gojenbergsweg 112, 21029 Hamburg-Bergedorf

Library of Hamburg Observatory
(Photo. Susanne M. Hoffmann)

10:00-12:30 h Lectures - Hamburg Observatory

Session 4: Non-European Cultures and Ethnoastronomy
Chair: ....
10:00-10:30 h - Marc Thuillard (St-Blaise, Switzerland):
Searching for the Most Widespread and Old Skylores
10:30-11:00 h - Stanisław Iwaniszewski (Mexico City, Mexico):
Revisiting the Lunar Series on the Tikal Ballgame Marker -
a new Hypothesis
11.00-11:30 h Coffee Break
11:30-12:00 h - Walmir Thomazi Cardoso & Janecleide Moura de Aguiar
(Rio de Janeiro, Brazil):
The role of historical sources and digital repositories
in Cultural Astronomy studies: a case study
12:00-12:30 h - Yang Hyun Choi (Hamburg, Germany):
Water clock and sundial from the reign of King Sejong (1397-1450)
of the Joseon Dynasty
12:30-14:00 h - Mittagessen / Lunch
14:00-14:30 h - Perry Lange (Hamburg/Kiel, Germany):
Kosmos in Stein: Archäoastronomische Aspekte
des Anantaliśgesvara Mahadeva Tempels in Nepal

14:30-15:30 h - Generalversammlung der
Gesellschaft für Archäoastronomie (GfA)
15:30-16:00 h - Coffee Break
16:00-18:00 h - Workshop by Georg Zotti (VRVis, Vienna, Austria):
"Creation of photo-based landscapes for Stellarium, Part 1"
A well-made photographic panorama from an interesting viewpoint can be used as a reliable proxy to study rising and setting events in past and present skies. In this workshop I will guide the attendants from taking photographs usable for stitching to handling the relevant settings of the Hugin panorama stitcher. We shall also try to properly orient and align the panorama with one created from SRTM data by the Horizon program (or other means).
Participants should use their own laptops which should be reasonably powerful for image processing and running Stellarium. (No "netbooks"!) Preparations (necessary program installations) will be announced later.

Tycho Brahe's stay (1597 to 1599)
in the Renaissance Water Castle "Wandesburg" (*1568)
of the Counts of Rantzau, Woodcut by Peter Lindeberg (1593).
Tycho portrait in his publication
"Astronomiae instauratae mechanica" Wandsbeck 1598.
A short visit in Hamburg-Wandsbek is offered:
Bust of Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
at "Wandsbek Markt" (U1) in Hamburg,
and the site of the Rantzau Castle, Schloßgarten 16-18.
A poem by Matthias Claudius (1740-1815) in 1774
deals with Brahe's stay at Wandesburg.

Melkeveien (Milky Way), Frida Hansen, Oslo (1898)
(© Maria Thrun, MK&G)
Evening: The important Museums in Hamburg
are open on Thursday evening,
cf. Museums in Hamburg: MARKK, MK&G, Art Gallery.

Hamburg Observatory, Friday, August 29, 2025

Gojenbergsweg 112, 21029 Hamburg-Bergedorf

1-m-Reflector, Carl Zeiss Jena (1911), Hamburg Observatory
(Photo: Gudrun Wolfschmidt, © 3D-pano)

10:00-12:30 h Lectures - Hamburg Observatory

Session 5: Cultural Astronomy in Early Modern Time until today
Chair: ....
10:00-10:30 h - Sonja Draxler (Graz, Austria):
Peter Apian - a pioneer in astronomical and geographical instrumentation
10:30-11:00 h - Doris Vickers (Vienna, Austria):
The evolution of Schickard's Astroscopium through three generations
11.00-11:30 h - Coffee Break
11:30-12:00 h - Anna Paule (Linz, Austria):
Research on James Cook's On-Board Toolkit for Astronavigation
12:00-13:30 h - Mittagessen / Lunch
13:30-14:00 h - Giangiacomo Gandolfi
(Monte Porzio Catone / Rome, Italy):
Giovan Domenico Cassini and the Celestial Novelties:
the Resilience of Astral Divination
14:00-14:30 h - J. Nicolás Balbi
(Observatorio de San Miguel, Buenos Aires, Argentina):
The First Stratospheric Ascension Project of the Southern Hemisphere (1938)
and the scientists' questions
14:30-15:00 h - Andreas Fuls (TU Berlin, Germany):
Historical Eclipse Records and Earth Rotation Variability
15:00-15.30 h - Coffee Break

15:30-16:30 h - General Assembly of the
European Society for Astronomy in Culture (SEAC)
16.30-18:00 h - Workshop by Georg Zotti (VRVis, Vienna, Austria):
"Creation of photo-based landscapes for Stellarium, Part 2"
A well-made photographic panorama from an interesting viewpoint can be used as a reliable proxy to study rising and setting events in past and present skies. In this workshop I will guide the attendants from taking photographs usable for stitching to handling the relevant settings of the Hugin panorama stitcher. We shall also try to properly orient and align the panorama with one created from SRTM data by the Horizon program (or other means).
Participants should use their own laptops which should be reasonably powerful for image processing and running Stellarium. (No "netbooks"!) Preparations (necessary program installations) will be announced later.

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and Sailing Ship Rickmer Rickmers
(Photos: Gudrun Wolfschmidt)
20 h - Dinner
....

Excursion, Saturday, August 30, 2025

7 Towers of Lübeck (2 Cathedral, Aegidien, Petri, 2 Marien, Jakobi)
(Nuremberg Schedel Chronicles (1493), f 265-266)

For the excursion, you need either the Schleswig-Holstein-Ticket or the Deutschlandticket.
Please look at Public transport and Deutschlandticket

Lübeck: the chief city of the Hanseatic League 1358 - an association of towns for the protection of trading interests. Lübeck, 14 km from the Baltic Sea.
"Liubice" (Old-Lübeck, founded by Slavs in 819); it was re-founded as "Lubeke" by Adolf II Count of Schauenburg and Holstein in 1143,
Transfer of the diocese to Lübeck in 1163 - the first cathedral in Lübeck was consecrated,
1226 Free Imperial City by Frederick II.
The Stecknitz Canal (1398) greatly facilitated the shipping of salt from Lüneburg.
Lübeck was in the 15th century the second largest city (after Cologne) in northern Germany, with 22,000 inhabitants. After the "discovery" of the Americas, Lübeck's economy declined, and Hamburg with the connection to the North Sea became leading in trade and leading the Hanse.

Left: Lübeck, Astronomical Clock in St. Mary's church,
Right: original Astronomical Clock in St. Annen-Museum (Photos: Gudrun Wolfschmidt)

Highlight: Lübeck, Astronomical Clock (1405/07)
St. Annen-Museum & Marienkirche/St. Mary's church

Marienkirche/St. Mary's church (*1251),
the mother church of Brick Gothic style -
the highest brick vault in the world at 38.5m, 120m long, and twin towers 124m high
Astronomical Clock and "Dance of Death", 15th-century frescoes,
Schüsselbuden 13, 23552 Lübeck
St. Annen-Museum
City Walk: Lübeck, Historical Town
(UNESCO World Heritage-listed Old Town since 1987) --
Holstentor (1478) - "Concordia domi, foris pax" ("Concord at home, peace outside"),
and Castle Gate / Burgtor (1444) - remnants of the medieval fortifications.
Rathaus (city hall), built in Gothic and Renaissance style,
Alleys and courtyards in Lübeck.

Long Night of Museums in Lübeck, 18-24 h !
European Hanseatic Museum Lübeck - 800 years of Hanseatic history
An der Untertrave 1, 23552 Lübeck
Museum Holstentor - Holsten Gate Museum (1464-1478),
Holstentorplatz, 23552 Lübeck
St. Catherine's Church (1300),
church of the former Franciscan monastery
Königstraße, corner of Glockengießerstraße, 23552 Lübeck
Niederegger Marzipan Salon
J.G. Niederegger GmbH & Co. KG, Breitestrasse 89, 23552 Lübeck
Museum House Hanseatic City of Gdansk,
Engelsgrube 66, 23552 Lübeck

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Workshop: Classical Observatories and UNESCO World Heritage (IAU C.C4) and WG "Windows to the Universe - Classical and Modern Observatories"

1-m-Zeiss Reflecting Telescope (1911) of Hamburg Observatory (Photo: Gudrun Wolfschmidt)

Aims and Scope

This workshop aims to highlight the outstanding astronomical heritage represented across many European observatories and consider their merits as candidates for seeking UNESCO World Heritage status. UNESCO awards World Heritage status to sites judged to have "Outstanding Universal Value". Astronomical connections have provided the basis for several such assessments, for instance monuments with alignments to the solstices (e.g., Newgrange in Ireland), observatories with connections to time keeping and navigation (e.g., Greenwich, UK), and mechanical models of the Solar System (e.g., Eise Eisinga Planetarium, Netherlands). The classical form of the astronomical observatory originated in Europe with many well-preserved examples from the 17th century onwards still extant. In some cases these observatories also remain as active centres of astronomy, where research, education and/or public outreach in the sciences are conducted. These provide prime candidates for possible future nominations for UNESCO World Heritage. In Ireland the historic observatories of Armagh, Birr and Dunsink have come together to pursue such a nomination. Birr and Dunsink have just been placed on the UNESCO Tentative List for Ireland by the Irish Government (Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, 18 April 2025).

The intent of this session is to highlight the outstanding astronomical heritage represented across many European observatories and ask whether they be suitable for inclusion in the IAU's list of "Outstanding Astronomical Heritage" (OAH). This may also include observatories that no longer exist but have made significant scientific contributions (e.g. Gotha in Germany, Uraniborg in Denmark). Further, we ask whether some might also be considered for future trans-national UNESCO nominations arising from several countries? While the astronomical heritage must be foremost in the applications, an extensive management plan for the site preservation is also a requirement. Within this plan the cultural and educational values of historic observatories will need to prominent. Thus, attaining UNESCO World Heritage status will also leverage important societal values such as the public communication of science. We will also consider the fate of observatories which are no longer in active use. For instance, in Potsdam the main dome has been transformed into a library, whereas in contrast to Cambridge and Meudon where they are falling into disrepair.

Questions that might be asked include:

The requirements for an observatory to be considered as Outstanding Astronomical Heritage?
The requirements needed to consider an observatory as a monument for accreditation for UNESCO Word Heritage?
What defines a "Classical Observatory" from a cultural viewpoint?

Challenges that are encountered in running Classical Observatories include:

How to keep historic telescopes working and relevant to audiences?
What can we learn from historic observatory libraries and archives?
How can an observatory on the UNESCO World Heritage list proceed with undertaking modern cutting-edge research?
How do historic observatories manage the balance between visitors' expectations (black holes - wow!)
versus historic reality (transit telescopes and cataloguing - boring!)?
How might we retain observatory domes once they have stopped being actively used for research?