Venue

Hamburg Observatory

The Hamburg Observatory, now located in Bergedorf, has a history spanning roughly 170 years and was once among the largest observatories in Europe. Founded in 1802 by Johann Georg Repsold and later relocated to Bergedorf in the early 20th century, it reached its scientific peak with major instruments such as the Great Refractor (one of the largest in Germany) and 1-metre reflector. Its most celebrated contribution is Bernhard Schmidt’s invention of the Schmidt corrector plate, which revolutionised wide-field astronomical photography. The observatory also produced influential stellar catalogues, and discovered numerous comets, minor planets and novae. Notably, it served as the first headquarters of the European Southern Observatory after its foundation in 1957. In the later 20th century, its focus shifted toward extragalactic astronomy, particularly gravitational lensing and quasar research, culminating in the internationally used Hamburg Quasar Survey conducted in collaboration with facilities in Spain and Chile. Now part of the University of Hamburg, the observatory maintains active research groups in stellar astrophysics, extragalactic astronomy and cosmology, collaborates with major international observatories and space missions such as LOFAR, eROSITA or 4MOST, and continues to contribute observational and theoretical work across the electromagnetic spectrum. For more information on the history of the observatory, have a look at this paper. We are looking forward to meeting you at our historical site!

How to get to the conference venue?

Public transport:
The observatory is situated directly at the “Sternwarte (Universität)” stop of bus line 332.  Take the S-Bahn line S2 from Hamburg Central Station (Hamburg-Hauptbahnhof)  to the “Bahnhof Bergedorf” station.  From there, take bus 332 and get off at the “Sternwarte (Universität)” stop. Alternatively, you can also take bus 135 and get off at stop “Justus-Brinckmann-Strasse”.  From here it is only a 10 min walk to the observatory. 
Please note: You can no longer buy tickets directly on the bus or S-Bahn. To travel by public transport, you have the following options:
• Buy tickets at HVV kiosks located in train stations.
• Download the official "HVV" app (recommended) and purchase tickets directly through the app.
• You can pay via PayPal in the HVV app. Alternatively, you can also buy tickets online here: website. The HVV system offers single rides, day tickets, and weekly passes for convenient travel across Hamburg.

Car:
Leave the A25 motorway at the HH-Bergedorf exit and head north. After about 1.1 km, turn right onto Vierlandenstraße.  After another 300 meters, turn right onto the B5 heading east.  Follow the B5 for about 1.1 km before turning left onto Justus-Brinckmann-Straße.  After another 500 meters, turn right onto Gojenbergsweg, which you follow to the entrance of the Bergedorf location.  Sufficient parking spaces are available at the observatory.

Plane:
If you arrive at Hamburg Airport (HAM) by plane, you can reach the Bergedorf location by taxi in about 40 minutes.  The fare is approximately 50 euros. By public transport, take the S1 from the airport to the “Berliner Tor” station, then change to the S2 to “Bahnhof Bergedorf.” From there, follow the By Public Transport / Train directions.  The journey from the airport to the observatory by S-Bahn and bus takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes.