The Seeberg observatory in Gotha was one of the first special observatory buildings in Europe. It was built by Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg according to plans by the Austrian astronomer Franz Xaver von Zach and was part of the overall Gotha Observatory project. This project included other research facilities employing a number of scientists.
In 1790 the Seeberg Observatory on the Kleiner Seeberg was put into operation. It served as an astronomical observatory until 1839. Initially equipped with the most modern - mostly English - instruments, it was considered a prototype for other observatories, such as the observatory in Göttingen. Under Franz Xaver von Zach it became a center of astronomical information. In 1798 the first European astronomers' congress took place here. From here the first astronomical journals went out to all countries.
Later and present use
In 1858 the Meridian Hall was demolished. The material was used for a new observatory building on Jägerstrasse (see Gotha Observatory). The house served as a restaurant until a fire in 1901. The new building of the restaurant (1904) in place of the former observatory only took the name "Old Observatory". At the time, the Gotha vernacular commented on the building with the whimsical rhyme: “Gastronomy follows astronomy.”
Source: Wikipedia