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Uraniborg |
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Hven lies half a mile out in the water between Copenhagen and Kronborg. The King most graciously took me there thanks to my letter of recommendation. The island is a mile long and wide. In the middle is an astronomical castle. Travel account of August Freiherr zu Mörsberg und Beffort, 1592, written on 1st April 1603. |
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| In 1576-80 Frederik II had the observatory Uraniborg built on the island of Hven for the astronomer Tycho Brahe. When Tycho Brahe left Hven in 1597, he took most of his instruments with him to have them set up in his new observatory with the Emperor in Prague. He had fallen out with the Danish King in a dispute over finances. In 1601 Christian IV had Uraniborg demolished. Since 1823 a number of excavations have uncovered the remains of the observatory. In 1658 Hven (in swedish called Ven) passed under Swedish control. |
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Exhibits
287
Ashlar with inscription and remains of gilding from Tycho Brahe’s Stjerneborg on the island of Ven (in Danish Hven).
Historiska Museet, Lund.
288
Foundation stone with inscription, from Tycho Brahe’s Uraniborg on the island of Ven.
Historiska Museet, Lund.
289
The castle of Uraniborg on Ven was shown by Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg in their book Civitates orbis terrarum 1588. At that time Tycho Brahe’s astronomical observatory on the island in the Sound was flourishing.
Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen.
290
C. W. Eckersberg (1783-1853)
Christian IV Visits Tycho Brahe. History painting from 1831.
Det Nationalhistoriske Museum på Frederiksborg Slot, Hillerød.
291
Tycho Brahe
De nova et nullius aevi memoria prius visa stella, 1573
This book with observations of a new star, a supernova, made the 26-year-old Tycho Brahe Europe’s most prominent astronomer.
Danmarks Natur- og Lægevidenskabelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen.
293
Tycho Brahe
De mundi aetherei recentioribus phaenomenis, 1588.
Tycho observed seven comets from Ven. The first and largest of them, observed in 1577, is the subject of this book, which also gives an account of his view of the universe.
Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen.
294
Johannes Meyer (1606-1674)
Delineatio systematis planetarii in folio unico patenti.
When Christian IV mounted the throne in Denmark in 1596, he found Tycho’s obstinacy irritating and his research too expensive. Tycho left Denmark the next year, and astronomy then became an area of responsibility for the University of Copenhagen.
Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen.
292
Tycho Brahe
Observationes astronomicae a Solstitio Hiberno anni 1577 ad 1581, maxima ex parte.
Tycho’s notes on his accurate and carefully recorded astronomical observations 1577-81.
Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen.