Timeline

1700

  • Introduction of the so­-called “Improved Calendar” in the Protestant states of Germany

  • Enactment of the calendar patent for the new Berlin Observatory

    10. May 1700
    image-2.png

    The calendar patent of 10 May 1700, the "founding document" of the Berlin Observatory, which moved to Babelsberg in 1913. The signatory is the Brandenburg Elector Frederick III, later Frederick I, King in Prussia.

    Credit: AIP archive
  • Appointment of Gottfried Kirch as director of the observatory

    18. May 1700
  • Foundation of the Brandenburg Society

    11. July 1700

1711

  • First observatory building in Berlin, Dorotheenstraße

1832

  • New Berlin Observatory
    Architect: Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Berlin, Lindenstraße

    1832 – 1835
    berliner_sternwarte_krzbg.jpg

    New Berlin Observatory, Berlin, Lindenstaße

    Credit: AIP archive

1846

  • Discovery of the planet Neptune by Johann Gottfried Galle

1865

  • Appointment of Wilhelm Julius Foerster as director

1874

  • Foundation of the “Astronomisches Rechen-Institut”

  • Foundation of the Astrophysical Observatory Potsdam (AOP)

1876

  • Construction of the main building of the AOP on the Telegrafenberg at Potsdam

    1876 – 1879
    AOPHG2101.jpg

    Main building of the AOP on the Telegrafenberg, nowadays it belongs to the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

    Credit: AIP archive

1881

  • First Michelson experiment in Potsdam

1886

  • Discovery of canal rays by Eugen Goldstein

1888

  • Discovery of the variation of the Earth’s pole latitude by Karl Friedrich Küstner

  • First photographic determination of a radial velocity by Hermann Carl Vogel

1896

  • Experiments at AOP to find radio emission from the Sun by Johannes Wilsing and Julius Scheiner

1899

  • Completion of the Great Refractor at Potsdam

    grosser-refraktor

    Construction of the Great Refractor on the Telegrafenberg

    Credit: AIP archive

1904

  • Discovery of the interstellar matter by Johannes Hartmann

  • Appointment of Karl Hermann Struve as director of the Berlin Observatory

1909

  • Appointment of Karl Schwarzschild as director of the AOP

1911

  • Construction of the observatory in Babelsberg

    1911 – 1913
    Hauptgebäude003.jpg

    The main building of the observatory in Babelsberg.

    Credit: AIP archive

1913

  • Relocation of the Berlin Observatory to Babelsberg

  • First use of photoelectric photometry by Paul Guthnick in Babelsberg

1915

  • Completion of the Great Refractor in Babelsberg

1921

  • Construction of Einstein Tower at the Telegrafenberg

    1921 – 1924
    ET-Bau21.jpg

    Construction of the Einstein Tower

    Credit: AIP archive

1924

  • Completion of the 120 cm reflector in Babelsberg

1931

  • Sonneberg Observatory incorporated into Babelsberg Observatory

1939

  • Discovery of the high temperature of the solar corona by Walter Grotrian (AOP)

1947

  • Takeover of AOP and Babelsberg Observatory by the German Academy of Sciences

    01. January 1947

1954

  • Commencement of radio observations in Tremsdorf

    30. June 1954
    Tremsdorf-Radioteleskop-2010c.jpg

    Four radio telescopes in Tremsdorf with a diameter of about 10 meters were used to study the radio emission of our sun.

    Credit: AIP

1960

  • Completion of the 2 m reflector in Tautenburg

1969

  • Foundation of the Central Institute of Astrophysics

1992

  • Beginning of work at the Astrophysical Institute Potsdam (AIP),
    Appointment of Karl-Heinz Rädler as scientific chairman

    01. January 1992

1998

  • Appointment of Günther Hasinger asscientific chairman of the AIP

2001

  • Appointment of Klaus G. Strassmeier as scientific chairman of the AIP

2002

  • First light for the Potsdam Multi­-Aperture Spectrophotometer (PMAS) at Calar Alto Observatory

2003

  • RAVE first light at the Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO)

2004

  • Appointment of Matthias Steinmetz asscientific chairman of AIP

2005

  • “First Light” of the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) in Arizona

    LBT02 2.JPG
    Credit: AIP

2006

  • Re-inauguration of the Great Refractor

  • Inauguration of STELLA on Tenerife

    STELLA_Doppeltel.png

    The robotic double telescope STELLA

    Credit: AIP

2011

  • Renamed to “Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP)”

2012

  • Inaugration of the solar telescope GREGOR on Tenerife

2014

  • MUSE “First Light” at Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile

2015

  • PEPSI “First Light” at LBT

2018

  • Start of the Hobby­-Eberly­-Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX)

2019

  • Launch of the eROSITA X-ray telescope

    erosita-manipulator.png

    The X-ray telescope eROSITA in the manipulator at AIP.

    Credit: Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestial Physics (MPE)

2020

  • Launch of the ESA mission Solar Orbiter

Last update: 17. February 2022