Koenigsberg Observatory (; obs. code:

058 58 may refer to: * 58 (number) * one of the years 58 BC, AD 58, 1958, 2058 * 58 (band), an American rock band * 58 (golf), a round of 58 in golf * "Fifty Eight", a song by Karma to Burn from the album ''Arch Stanton ''Arch Stanton'' is t ...

) was 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 research facility which was attached to the Albertina University in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

, what is now

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

, Russia. The observatory was destroyed by Royal Air Force bombs in August 1944 during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Only the reduit (interior of the building) remained from the bastion. The building is a semicircular two-storey building with a brick vault. Nowadays, the building is considered a regional architectural monument.

Description

It was founded in 1810 and started working in 1813. Well-known astronomers who used the observatory included

Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (; 22 July 1784 – 17 March 1846) was a German astronomer, mathematician, physicist, and geodesist. He was the first astronomer who determined reliable values for the distance from the Sun to another star by the method ...

Friedrich Wilhelm Argelander Friedrich Wilhelm August Argelander (22 March 1799 – 17 February 1875) was a German astronomer. He is known for his determinations of stellar brightnesses, positions, and distances. Life and work Argelander was born in Memel in the Kingd ...

Arthur Auwers Georg Friedrich Julius Arthur von Auwers (12 September 1838 – 24 January 1915) was a German astronomer. Auwers was born in Göttingen to Gottfried Daniel Auwers and Emma Christiane Sophie (née Borkenstein). He attended the University of G� ...

and Hermann Struve. In 1838, the parallax of a star was determined successfully for first time by Bessel using a

heliometer A heliometer (from Greek ἥλιος ''hḗlios'' "sun" and ''measure'') is an instrument originally designed for measuring the variation of the Sun's diameter at different seasons of the year, but applied now to the modern form of the instrumen ...

of Fraunhofer.

Gallery

ID003728 B161 Sternwarte.jpg, Koenigsberg Observatory Koenigsberg observatory foto.jpg, Observatory (unknown date) Koenigsberg observatory.jpg, Observatory in 1830 Kaliningrad - Astronomical Bastion.jpg, Ruins of observatory in 2021

External links

Koenigsberg observatory, illustration
sciencephoto.com University of Königsberg Defunct astronomical observatories Buildings and structures in Germany destroyed during World War II 1810 establishments in Prussia {{observatory-stub