Einstein Tower and Great Refractor anniversary

On 8th September 2024, the AIP celebrated not only the “Day of Open Monuments”, but also the 100th anniversary of the Einstein Tower. Brandenburg's Minister of Culture and Science, Dr. Manja Schüle, was invited to give a welcome address in honor of the anniversary: “A year ago, we met here to admire the Einstein Tower in its new guise. Today we are here to welcome a monument into its new century.” She brought an unusual birthday present: a record by the Canadian rock band Saga from 1980 with the Einstein Tower on the cover. “In several albums, the band tells the story of aliens who send Albert Einstein to Earth to save it from self-destruction. So this is the soundtrack to saving the world thanks to science.” After these introductory words, the birthday cake with the Einstein Tower motif was cut and served.

The “Day of Open Monuments” offered the public at the Albert Einstein Science Park the opportunity to experience the architecture and functionality of the Einstein Tower up close. With the 100th anniversary of the Einstein Tower, the AIP honored the impressive architecture of Erich Mendelsohn and at the same time paid tribute to the continued importance of the tower for solar research. Between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., interested visitors had the opportunity to view the Einstein Tower from the inside.

The Great Refractor, the fourth largest refracting telescope in the world, also welcomed hundreds of visitors. It is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.

The Einstein Tower is an iconic building designed by architect Erich Mendelsohn and was constructed on the Telegrafenberg in Potsdam between 1919 and 1924. It is in fact a solar observatory which was created in collaboration with the physicist Albert Einstein and the astronomer Erwin Finlay Freundlich and still houses a powerful solar telescope, consisting of a tower telescope with a 60 cm field of view and a long focal length spectrograph. Thanks to the modernised optical and mechanical equipment, it is possible to distinguish around 600,000 colors in the spectrum. Following an extensive and comprehensive renovation, which was financed and realised by the Wüstenrot Foundation between 2021 and 2023, the listed building shined again in new splendour for its anniversary.

The Einstein Tower on the Telegrafenberg in Potsdam is an important example of the architectural awakening of modernism and stands for the close link between art and science.