Johann Georg Repsold

Johann Georg Repsold (19 September 1770 – 14 January 1830) was a German manufacturer of scientific instruments, astronomer, and fireman.

In 1802 he began to build a private observatory, and collaborated in astronomical observations with Heinrich Christian Schumacher.

In 1825 a new observatory was completed at the town wall,[1] and Repsold became the director, supplying instruments at his own expense with other funding from the city of Hamburg.

[2] Repsold died in 1830 when he was struck by a falling beam while supervising firefighting at a major fire.

The expense of running the observatory was subsequently taken over by the local government, and the new director was Carl Ludwig Christian Rümker.