Innsbruck Observatory

Egon von Oppolzer, who had been appointed as an associate professor in Innsbruck in 1902, therefore began building an observatory in 1904 according to his own plans near his villa in Hötting.

In order to enable rapid temperature equalisation, it was built in a lightweight construction made of reinforced concrete, corrugated iron and glass.

The main instrument was a zenith telescope, which was built by Gustav Heyde in Dresden according to Oppolzer's design.

In the dome there is a Zeiss mirror telescope with a diameter of 40 cm from 1905, also called the "Academy Reflector" after its sponsor, which was originally intended for stellar spectroscopy.

In 1953 and 1968/69 it was expanded under Viktor Oberguggenberger and Josef Fuchs and received, among other things, a darkroom, a seminar room and a small workshop.

In 2024, the free-standing Coudé dome in the garden was renovated in close coordination with the Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft (BIG) and the Federal Monuments Office.

When the building was completed in 1986, a dome was built on the roof, in which a Ritchey-Chrétien telescope with a diameter of 60 cm was installed in 1996.