Johann Heinrich Hoffmann (1669 in /

Thüringen Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

; April 6, 1716 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

) was a German

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

Life and work

Hoffmann was a student of

Erhard Weigel Erhard Weigel (16 December 1625 – 20 March 1699) was a German mathematician, astronomer and philosopher. Biography Weigel earned his M.A. (1650) and his habilitation (1652) from the University of Leipzig. From 1653 until his death he was profe ...

and, until his death in 1699, his (assistant). He accompanied him on his journey of 1696 - 1697 to Denmark and Sweden.Hans-Stephan Brather (Hrsg.): Leibnitz und seine Akademie
/ref> From February 1701 Hoffmann was employed first as Adjunkt and later as astronomer and observator at the Königlich Preußischen Sozietät der Wissenschaften in

. At the

Berlin Observatory The Berlin Observatory (Berliner Sternwarte) is a German astronomical institution with a series of observatories and related organizations in and around the city of Berlin in Germany, starting from the 18th century. It has its origins in 1700 w ...

he began his duties as assistant of the first director

Gottfried Kirch Gottfried Kirch (; also KircheKenneth Glyn Jones, ''The Search for the Nebulae'', Alpha Academic, 1975, p. 19. , Kirkius; 18 December 1639 – 25 July 1710) was a German astronomer and the first "Astronomer Royal" in Berlin and, as such, directo ...

and after the latter's death in 1710, he succeeded him as director and continued the main task of calculating the calendar, up till his own death.ARI
Direktoren des Astronomischen Rechen-Instituts
(bis 1874 der Berliner Sternwarte) Apart from his activities as director of the Berlin Observatory, from 1705 he led at the same time the private observatory of Bernhard Friedrich von Krosigk and was from 1710 until at least 1712 also a teacher to the

Cadet Corps A corps of cadets, also called cadet corps, was originally a kind of military school for boys. Initially such schools admitted only sons of the nobility or gentry, but in time many of the schools were opened also to members of other social classes. ...

References

17th-century German astronomers 1669 births 1716 deaths Scientists from Thuringia 18th-century German astronomers {{Germany-astronomer-stub