Astronomische Gesellschaft

The Astronomische Gesellschaft is an astronomical society established in 1863 in Heidelberg, the second oldest astronomical society after the Royal Astronomical Society.[1]

In 1882, the Astronomische Gesellschaft founded the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams at Kiel, where it remained until during World War I when it was moved to the Østervold Observatory at Copenhagen, Denmark, to be operated there by the Copenhagen University Observatory.[2]

Around the turn of the 20th century the A.G. initiated the most important star catalog of this time, the Astronomische Gesellschaft Katalog (AGK).

The assembly in Danzig (now Gdańsk) in August 1939 was the last until a meeting at Göttingen in 1947, when it was re-commenced as Astronomische Gesellschaft in der Britischen Zone. The post-war editorial board consisted of Chairman Albrecht Unsöld (Kiel), Otto Heckmann, J. Larink, B. Straßl, Paul ten Bruggencate, and also Max Beyer representing the amateurs of the society.[1]
Presidents

1863 Julius Zech
1864 Friedrich Argelander
1867 Otto Wilhelm von Struve
1887 Arthur Auwers[3]
1889 Hugo Gyldén
1896 Hugo von Seeliger

Honorary members

With dates of appointment:

Awards

The astronomical society awards the following awards and prizes:

Karl Schwarzschild Medal
Ludwig Biermann Förderpreis (de:Ludwig-Biermann-Förderpreis)
Bruno H. Bürgel Award
Hans Ludwig Neumann Award (de:Hans-Ludwig-Neumann-Preis)

The Hanno and Ruth Roelin Prize is also awarded at the society's annual meeting, but it is administered by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.
See also

Astronomical Calculation Institute (University of Heidelberg)
Vereinigte Astronomische Gesellschaft

References

Werner Pfau (2000). "The Astronomische Gesellschaft: Pieces from its History". In A. Heck (ed.). Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy. pp. 67–75. ISBN 0-7923-6671-9.
"Science is not national, but scientists are: International 20th century and Danish astronomers" (PDF). ICESHS. Retrieved 2009-08-09.

"Introduction". Publications of the U.S. Naval Observatory Second Series. 2: XI–XXVIII. 1902. Bibcode:1902PUSNO...2D..11.. doi:10.5479/ADS/bib/1902PUSNO.2D.11.