Concluding Remarks

In a large body of output, we may reasonably select three major contributions to astronomy by Bergedorf and its associated observers which stand out. The first must clearly be the Schmidt telescope, whose corrector plate has become famous throughout the entire world astronomical community. This enormous contribution to astronomy hardly needs further comment.

The second are the AGK2 and AGK3 precision stellar catalogues, the AGK2 being among the first large stellar catalogues. They have found important uses in and outside the visible wavelengths, and were considered amongst the standard catalogues until the Hipparcos satellite (launched in 1989 by the European Space Agency) became a major source for stellar catalogues. Even today, they are important for proper motion studies and statistical analyses.

Finally, one of Bergedorf’s most important recent contributions was the completion of the Hamburg Quasar Survey, now used globally throughout the astronomical community.

Although the glorious observational days of the past are now over at Bergedorf, valuable observational and theoretical work continues to be carried out. Many of the observatory’s original instruments are still in Bergedorf (although some are now in a neglected state) and the site is protected under local monument protection laws.

Recent initiatives such as the founding of the Förderverein Hamburger Sternwarte and the Seh Stern project signal an era of a more publicly visible Bergedorf. The people of the city Hamburg have in their observatory an institution of which they can be justly proud.

Acknowledgments

Materials were gathered for this paper by literature searches and oral history interviews. For information on Begredorf\222s more recent history the annual reports (\223Jahresberichte\224) of the observatory were used, together with oral interviews with H. Kähler, S. Refsdahl, D. Reimers and H.J. Wendker.

We wish to thank Dr Jochen Schramm for very helpful discussions and permission to use images. SRA also wishes to thank Dr Wayne Orchiston for his valuable advice and encouragement.

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