Following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, the city of Strasbourg became part of the German Empire.

The University of Strasbourg was refounded in 1872, and a new observatory began construction in 1875, in the Neustadt district.

In 1881, the ninth General Assembly of the Astronomische Gesellschaft met in Strasbourg to mark the official inauguration.

[2][3]The observatory site was selected primarily for instruction purposes and political symbolism, rather than the observational qualities.

During the period up until 1914, the staff was too small to work the instruments and so there was little academic research published prior to World War I.