It was discovered by German astronomers Freimut Börngen and Lutz Schmadel at the Karl Schwarzschild Observatory in Tautenburg, eastern Germany, on 12 October 1990.
[8] In October 2013, a rotational lightcurve of Abderhalden was obtained from photometric observation taken by astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory in California.
[4] This minor planet was named in memory of Swiss biochemist and physiologist Emil Abderhalden (1877–1950).
He was a researcher in the field of physiological chemistry, founder of modern dietetics, and promoter of public welfare.
Abderhalden taught physiology at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg from 1911 until the end of World War II.