Friedrich Hopfner

In 1936 he was appointed Professor of Theoretical Geodesy and Spherical astronomy at the Vienna University of Technology, as successor to Richard Schumann.

In autumn 1942 he declined Hitler's invitation into his newly created Academy of Sciences (Akademie der Wissenschaften) in Prague, and was forced into retirement, moving with his family to Schönbühel on the Danube, where he devoted himself exclusively to research.

His pleasant friendliness made him popular with colleagues and students, and in the 1948-9 term he was voted Rector magnificus at the Technical High School of Vienna.

From the very beginning of his career he made valuable contributions to astronomy, geodesy, geophysics and meteorology, in the applied fields as well as the theoretical, and published a great deal on all four subjects.

With his entry to the Gradmessungsbüro in 1921 he turned to geodesy and geophysics, in particular his work on the meridian arc measurement Großenhain-Kremsmünster-Pola, which detailed the use of comparisons of vertical deflections.

His study of the Earth's magnetic field helped make a name for the ZAMG, or Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik) in Vienna.