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Hamburg Observatory
Hamburg Observatory

Photo: HS

Hamburg Observatory

Library and Digital Archives

The Library of Hamburg Observatory comprises about 70.000 tomes. Some of them are of high historical value like Tycho Brahes "Astronomia Instauratae Mechanica" (1602) or Johannes Keplers "Tabulae Rudolphinae" (1627).

Further, the observatory hosts a large number of astronomical photoplates from the 20th century. In a unique project starting in 2010, these plates have been digitized at extremely high resolution.

Photograph of Andromedagalaxie (M31)

The Online Digital Archives of Hamburg Observatory contain about 47,000 astronomical photoplates. The plate archive is supplemented by a large collection of scanned photographs, texts, and drawings. In addition, the creative work of Bernhard Schmidt, a remarkable designer, optician, and inventor who worked at the observatory, is made accessible.