Tartu Observatory

The Dorpat Observatory (estn. Tartu Observatoorium) is a historical astronomical research facility in Tartu (German Dorpat, Russian Дерпт, Derpt until 1893, Jurjew until 1917) in present-day Estonia (formerly Russia).The observatory is located at the foot of the former Domberg. The Russian main observatory of Pulkovo, founded in 1839, is only 250 km north-east – a short distance for Russia.It was built in 1811 at the German University of Dorpat and was the workplace of important astronomers. The Dorpat observatory soon became internationally known, e.g. thanks to the large refractor designed by Josef Fraunhofer – the first monochromatic telescope with an objective with an aperture of almost 25 cm. By 1900, all eight directors came from Germany. Friedrich Wilhelm Struve, his son Otto Wilhelm Struve and Johann Heinrich Mädler (Wikipedia), known for his lunar atlases, deserve special mention.