Urania is a public educational institute and observatory in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria. Urania Observatory () was built in 1909 according to the plans of

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 ...

style architect

Max Fabiani Maximilian Fabiani, commonly known as Max Fabiani (, ) (29 April 1865 – 12 August 1962) was an Italians, Italian architect, born in the village of Kobdilj near Štanjel on the Karst Plateau, County of Gorizia and Gradisca, in present-day Sl ...

(a student of

Otto Wagner Otto Koloman Wagner (; 13 July 1841 – 11 April 1918) was an Austrian architect, furniture designer and urban planner. He was a leading member of the Vienna Secession movement of architecture, founded in 1897, and the broader Art Nouveau mo ...

) at the outlet of the

Wien River The Wien is a river that flows through the capital of Austria, Vienna. Geography The river Wien is long, of which are within the city. Its drainage basin covers an area of , both in the city and in the neighbouring Vienna Woods. Its source li ...

and was opened in 1910 by

Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

as an educational facility with a public

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 ...

. It was named after the

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

Urania Urania ( ; ; modern Greek shortened name ''Ránia''; meaning "heavenly" or "of heaven") was, in Greek mythology, the muse of astronomy and astrology. Urania is the goddess of astronomy and stars, her attributes being the globe and compass. T ...

'' who represents

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 ...

. During

World War II 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 ...

, the Urania was severely damaged and the dome with the observatory was destroyed. After its reconstruction, it was reopened in 1957. The observatory itself has been continually improved technically over the years. Though it now serves different functions, the Urania continues to be a public observatory. Presently the Urania also has seminar rooms in which wide-ranging classes and lectures are given, a movie theater that screens at the annual

Viennale The Vienna International Film Festival, or Viennale, is a film festival taking place every October since 1960 in Vienna, Austria. The average number of visitors is about 75,000. Traditional cinema venues are ''Gartenbaukino'', ''Urania'', ''Met ...

movie festival and a puppet theater created originally by actor

Hans Kraus Hans Kraus (November 28, 1905 in Austria-Hungary – March 6, 1996, in New York City) was a physician, physical therapist, mountaineer, and alpinist. A pioneer of modern rock climbing, he was also one of the fathers of sports medicine and physica ...

. The Urania moreover contains a memorial room for the

Kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children from Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, total ...

organized by the Dutch resistance fighter and humanitarian Mrs

Geertruida Wijsmuller-Meijer Geertruida Wijsmuller-Meijer (21 April 1896, Alkmaar – 30 August 1978, Amsterdam) was a Dutch resistance fighter who brought Jewish children and adults into safety before and during World War II. Together with other people involved in the pre-wa ...

, who early December 1938 managed to rescue the first 600 Jewish children from Vienna after direct negotiations in Vienna with

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ;"Eichmann"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 19 March 1906 – 1 Ju ...

. It also hosts a restaurant, and is the oldest public observatory in Austria. The highly awarded Austrian writer Carl Julius Haidvogel once worked there as an editor.

Gallery

File:GuentherZ 2013-06-14 0294 Wien01 Aspernbruecke Urania Schiff Schloegen.JPG File:Urania Vienna June 2006 292.jpg File:Wien_01_Urania_04.jpg File:Urania Vienna June 2006 295.jpg File:Urania, Vienna.jpg File:Wien Urania 5936.JPG File:Wien I Urania 22.09.20 JM.jpg

References

External links

Wiener Urania

Urania Observatory

The birth of Vienesse modernism
Buildings and structures in Innere Stadt Science and technology in Austria Education in Vienna Astronomical observatories in Austria Max Fabiani buildings 1910 establishments in Austria Art Nouveau architecture in Vienna Art Nouveau educational buildings Buildings and structures completed in 1910 20th-century architecture in Austria {{Austria-school-stub