TYCHO BRAHE'S castleURANIBORG and his observatory STJÄRNEBORG

Between 1576-1580, during Tycho Brahe's administration, the castle Uraniborg was erected on the middle of the island of Hven. The whole construction, ie. castle, observatory, PAPERMILL , earthworks, dams and ponds took about 8 years to complete. Scientific work began from the very first day and grew as facilities gradually improved The Danish State subsidised Tycho Brahe, using almost 1% of the national budget for this one project alone. This remains the largest subsidy ever given by any nation for a single scientific project. Just compare it to USA's space programme which at its peak didn't get more than 0.4% of the national budget When the castle proved too small as both residence and observatory, and the balustrades which housed the instruments turned out to be unstable, Tycho designed a completely new concept for an observatory based on his experience at the castle.This new construction placed the instruments underground.

Here, they were protected from both wind and weather. Solid granite pillars formed the foundations. The great dome could be smoothly rotated in any direction while the rest of the instruments were hidden behind hatches which opened to the heavens. This concept became the template for other European observatories as Tycho's many students gradually returned to their own homelands. BACK to MENUE Renaissance-Garden THE TYCHO QUIZ More pictures of the buildings Next Tycho-page The astronomical instruments

Updated 2000-04-10 Copyright Johan Runeberg