Introduction

Hamburg Observatory is located in Bergedorf, near the port city of Hamburg in Germany. Its history throughout its approximately 170 years of existence has been interesting and varied, and at one stage it was one of the largest observatories in Europe. The observatory and its astronomers have produced some contributions of crucial importance to astronomy, including the celebrated Schmidt corrector plate. Several minor planets, comets and novae were discovered and catalogues of crucial importance were and continue to be produced. More recently, research efforts have turned to extragalactic astronomy, most notably in the field of gravitational lenses and quasar astronomy. The broad scope of astrophysical research is nowadays represented by research groups on stars and planets, and quasars, through observational and theoretical work. The historical dearth of the observatory’s contributions to astronomical education and popularisation is noted, although more recent initiatives in this area signal an era of more public visibility.

Hamburg Observatory was chosen for two reasons. Firstly, its physical proximity to SRA’s location at the time of the research and secondly, the apparent dearth of english-language materials on the observatory’s history.

Materials were gathered for this paper by literature searches and oral history interviews. Those involved are acknowledged.