Strasbourg Observatory: A Multinational History

Mercury, July/August 2005 Table of Contents

Courtesy of Obs. Astron. Strasbourg

by André Heck

Strasbourg Astronomical Observatory has a fascinating history. Indeed, several changes of nationality since its founding in the late 19th century, high-profile scientists in residence, and big projects born (e.g., HIPPARCOS) or maintained (e.g., CDS) in the Observatory give it a unique place in the international astronomical community.

At the end of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1, France lost Alsace (minus Belfort and a small territory around it), as well as a part of Lorraine including Metz. That region, Alsace-Moselle, was improperly named Elsaß-Lothringen [Alsace-Lorraine] by the German empire—an incorrect denomination that is still found today in many books including tourist guides.

As so often in the course of history, the new authorities decided to make a showcase out of the newly acquired region and Strasbourg, in particular. New spacious and structured quarters were built, roughly east of the old town. The new city extension included what one would call today a university campus with an astronomical observatory. At the end of World War I in 1918, the city, as well as the whole of Alsace-Moselle, again became French. With the outbreak of World War II, the area was annexed in 1940 by the Nazi regime. The French university had already been moved to Clermont-Ferrand in central France, and German staff ran the activities in Strasbourg during the conflict. The area returned to France in 1945, but, still today, the region obeys rules different from the rest of France with a so-called Local Law, priests and other cult ministers are paid by the State, different payrolls for civil servants, trains running on the right like in Germany, etc.

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