Urania, Vienna

Last updated
Urania
Urania 3904-Christian Michelides.jpg
Urania at sunset
Location Vienna, Austria
Coordinates 48°12′42″N16°23′01″E / 48.21167°N 16.38361°E / 48.21167; 16.38361
Established1910
Website www.urania-sternwarte.at
Austria relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Location of Urania
  Commons-logo.svg Related media on Commons

Urania is a public educational institute and observatory in Vienna, Austria.

Contents

Urania Observatory (German: Urania Sternwarte) was built in 1909 [1] according to the plans of Art Nouveau style architect Max Fabiani (a student of Otto Wagner) at the outlet of the Wien River and was opened in 1910 by Franz Joseph I of Austria as an educational facility with a public observatory. It was named after the Muse Urania who represents Astronomy.

During World War II, 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 movie festival and a puppet theater created originally by actor Hans Kraus. The Urania moreover contains a memorial room for the Kindertransport organized by the Dutch resistance fighter and humanitarian Mrs Geertruida Wijsmuller-Meijer, who early December 1938 managed to rescue the first 600 Jewish children from Vienna after direct negotiations in Vienna with Adolf Eichmann. It also hosts a restaurant, and is the oldest public observatory in Austria. [2] The highly awarded Austrian writer Carl Julius Haidvogel once worked there as an editor.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vienna</span> Capital and largest city of Austria

Vienna is the capital, largest city, and one of nine States of Austria. Vienna is Austria's most populous city and its primate city, with about two million inhabitants, and its cultural, economic, and political center. It is the sixth-largest city proper by population in the European Union and the largest of all cities on the Danube river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urania</span> Muse of astronomy in Greek mythology

Urania 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adler Planetarium</span> Astronomical museum in Chicago, Illinois

The Adler Planetarium is a public museum in Chicago, Illinois, dedicated to astronomy and astrophysics. It was founded in 1930 by local businessman Max Adler. Located on the northeastern tip of Northerly Island on Lake Michigan, the Adler Planetarium was the first planetarium in the United States. It is part of Chicago's Museum Campus, which includes the John G. Shedd Aquarium and The Field Museum. The Planetarium's mission is to inspire exploration and understanding of the universe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermann Nitsch</span> Austrian artist (1938–2022)

Hermann Nitsch was an Austrian contemporary artist and composer. His art encompassed wide-scale performances incorporating theater, multimedia, rituals and acted violence. He was a leading figure of Viennese Actionism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vienna Ring Road</span> Street in Vienna

The Vienna Ring Road is a 5.3 km circular grand boulevard that serves as a ring road around the historic Innere Stadt district of Vienna, Austria. The road is located on sites where medieval city fortifications once stood, including high walls and the broad open field ramparts (glacis), criss-crossed by paths that lay before them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermann Bahr</span> Austrian dramatic, publicist and writer

Hermann Anastas Bahr was an Austrian writer, playwright, director, and critic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valie Export</span> Austrian media artist

Valie Export is an avant-garde Austrian artist. She is best known for provocative public performances and expanded cinema work. Her artistic work also includes video installations, computer animations, photography, sculpture and publications covering contemporary art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vienna Volksoper</span> Building in Vienna, Austria

The Vienna Volksoper is an opera house in Vienna, Austria. It produces three hundred performances of twenty-five German language productions of opera, operetta, musicals, and ballet, during an annual season which runs from September through June.

<i>The Illusionist</i> (2006 film) 2006 romantic mystery film by Neil Burger

The Illusionist is a 2006 American romantic mystery film written and directed by Neil Burger, and starring Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, and Jessica Biel. Based loosely on Steven Millhauser's short story "Eisenheim the Illusionist", it tells the story of Eisenheim, a magician in turn-of-the-century Vienna, who reunites with his childhood love, a woman far above his social standing. It also depicts a fictionalized version of the Mayerling incident.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urania Sternwarte</span> Public observatory in Zürich

Urania Sternwarte is a public observatory in the Lindenhof quarter of Zürich, Switzerland. Its name Urania refers to the muse of astronomy in Greek mythology.

Urania Sternwarte is an observatory in Zurich, Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory</span> Observatory

The Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory, or AMPO, also known as the Eastern Florida State College Planetarium and Observatory, was an astronomical observatory and planetarium at Eastern Florida State College in Cocoa, Florida. The facility consisted of a planetarium, public observatory, large-screen movie theater, exhibit halls, multi-media classroom and an art gallery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kuffner Observatory</span> Observatory in Vienna

The Kuffner observatory is one of two telescope-equipped public astronomical observatories situated in Austria's capital, Vienna. It is situated in the West of the city's Ottakring district, on the slope of the Gallitzinberg at 302 m altitude. Originally a private research institution, it was converted into an educational astronomy facility after World War II as buildings and city lights had encroached to a degree that severely hampered scientific nightsky observations. Today the main tasks of the observatory consist in public education on astronomy, operating and preserving the historical equipment, and minor projects in scientific astronomy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermann Mucke (astronomer)</span> Austrian astronomer (1935–2019)

Hermann B. W. Mucke was an Austrian astronomer and one of the most significant promoters of amateur astronomy in German-speaking Europe. He was born and died in Vienna.

Oswald Thomas, was an astronomer and a protagonist of the popularization of astronomy in Germany and Austria.

Robert Hofferer is an Austrian film and theatre producer and a cultural manager.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludwig Wüst</span> Austrian film director, scriptwriter and producer

Ludwig Wüst is an Austrian film director, scriptwriter and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Werner Gruber</span> Austrian physicist and author

Werner Gruber is an Austrian physicist, author, lecturer, and cabaret artist and is well known from ORF and as a member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Holocaust in Austria</span>

The Holocaust in Austria was the systematic persecution, plunder and extermination of Jews by German and Austrian Nazis from 1938 to 1945. An estimated 65,000 Jews were murdered and 125,000 forced to flee Austria as refugees.

Carl Julius Haidvogel was born to Carl Haidvogel and Juliana on 13 September 1891 in Vienna, Austria. From 1912, Haidvogel worked as a registrar for the municipality of Vienna, was a part-time editor at the public educational institute and observatory Urania, and a dramaturge at the Bühne der Jungen. He started publishing his famous literary works in 1918. In the 1920s, he came into contact with the "Weekend and Settlement Movement" of the Viennese municipal Councillor Anton Weber, which also influenced his work. In 1937, Haidvogel joined the "Union of German Writers in Austria". Although Haidvogel was not among the contributors to the Confession Book of the "Union of German Writers of Austria" (BdSÖ), he was one of the signatories of the "Confession of the Union of German Writers to the Führer", published in Grazer Tagespost on 27 March 1938. Haidvogel was friends with Josef Weinheber and Karl Heinrich Waggerl. Haidvogel's work "The Pillars of God" was placed on the list of banned authors and books in Austria in 1946. In 1956, Haidvogel was retired. In 1971, he received the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art. He welcomed his son Gerhard with wife Lotte on 14 January 1921; Gerhard became the famous Austrian architect Gerhard Haidvogel. Carl Julius Haidvogel died on 26 December 1974 in Graz.

References

  1. "Urania Observatory". travelguide.michelin.com. 2018-08-16. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  2. "Ringstrasse architecture Vienna". Secret Vienna Tours. Retrieved 2020-06-10.