Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg from his 1598 mechanica book
Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg main building from the 1663 Blaeu's Atlas Major
Uranienborg (Swedish: Uraniborg) was an astronomical/astrological observatory operated by Tycho Brahe; built circa 1576-1580 on Hven (also spelled Ven or Hveen), an island in the Øresund between Zealand and Scania, at that time belonging to Denmark.
The building was dedicated to Urania, the Muse of Astronomy and named Uranienborg, "The Castle of Urania." It was the first custom-built observatory, and the last to be built without a telescope as its primary instrument. The cornerstone was laid on August 8, 1576. Tycho abandoned Uranienborg in 1597, and it was destroyed in 1601. The grounds are currently being restored.
The main building of Uraniborg was square, about 15 meters on a side, and built mostly of red brick. Two semi-circular tower, one each on the north and south sides of the main building, giving the building a somewhat rectangular shape overall. The main floor consisted of four rooms, one of which was occupied by Tycho and his family, the other three for visiting astronomers. The northern tower housed the kitchens, and the southern a library. The second floor was divided into three rooms, two of equal size and one larger. The larger room was reserved for visiting royalty. On this level the towers housed the primary astronomical instruments, accessed from outside the building or from doors on this floor. Outrider towers, supported on pillars, housed additional instruments slightly further from the building, giving them a wider angle of view. On the third floor was a "loft", subdivided into eight smaller rooms for students. Only the roofs of the towers reached this level, although a single additional tower extended above the loft in the middle of the building, similar to a widow's walk, accessed via a spiral staircase from the 3rd floor. Uraniborg also featured a large basement; it housed an alchemical laboratory in one end, and storage for food, salt and fuel at the other.[1]
Surrounding Uraniborg was a large wall, 75 meters on a side and 5.5 meters high. Uraniborg was located in the very middle, with an extensive set of intricate gardens between the walls and the building. In addition to being decorative, the gardens also supplied herbs for the Tycho's medicinal chemistry experiments. The gardens are currently being re-created, using seeds found on-site or identified in Tycho's writings.
Uraniborg was an extremely expensive project. It is estimated that it cost about 1% of the entire state budget during construction,[2].
Shortly after construction it became clear that the tower-mounted instruments were too easily moved by wind, and Tycho set about constructing a more suitable observation site.[2] The result was Stjerneborg ("castle of the stars"), a smaller site built entirely at ground level and dedicated purely to observations (there was no "house"). The basic layout was similar to Uraniborg, with a wall of similar shape surrounding the site, although the enclosed area was much smaller. The instruments were all placed underground, covered by opening shutters or a rotating dome in buildings built over the instrument pits.
Upon losing financial support from the new king, Christian IV of Denmark, Tycho abandoned Hven in 1597 and both Uraniborg and Stjerneborg were destroyed shortly after Tycho's death. Stjerneborg was the subject of archaeological excavations during the 1950s, resulting in the restoration of the observatory.[3] Stjerneborg now houses a multimedia show.
References
Coordinates: 55°54′28″N 12°41′46″E / 55.90778, 12.69611
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