Arnold Zenkert

born 1923 in Steinschönau, Nordböhmen (North Bohemia)/ Germany, died in 2013


In gratitude for many interesting conversations and constant willingness to help

Torsten Hiller and Norbert Müller






I first became interested in astronomy at the age of 13, when I witnessed a partial eclipse of the sun through a soot covered piece of glass. This event made an overwhelming impression on me. I first became interested in astronomy at the age of 13, when I witnessed a partial eclipse of the sun through a soot covered piece of glass. This event made an overwhelming impression on me.

I then began learning about astronomy by reading widely on the subject, particularly the writings of Bürgel, Henseling, Newcomb-Engelmann and Thomas. I made my first astronomical "discoveries" with a home-made telescope made of Kosmos lenses and a cardboard tube – a device which to my amazement enabled me to view the lunar mountains, the four large moons of Jupiter, and Saturn's rings. The mathematical aspect of astronomy didn't interest me at all back then, and it was only in 1953, when I began studying geography in college, that this dimension of the heavens attracted my attention.

Thanks to my 25 years as director of the teacher training college, Pädagogische Hochschule, in Potsdam and as a high school astronomy teacher trainer there, as well as my 20 years working at the Potsdam planetarium, I was fortunate enough to impart my knowledge of astronomy to others. From 1960 to 1989 I served on East Germany's Committee for Astronomical Teaching Materials, which was tasked with developing teaching and learning materials for high school astronomy courses, which were introduced in East Germany in 1959.

The study of astronomy is inextricably bound up with the history of the discipline, which is in turn closely intertwined with the history of ancient cultures. I have always been amazed by the fact that well over two millennia ago people were already seeking accurate astronomical instruments, foremost among them being the armillary sphere with its fascinating depiction of the relative positions of the celestial equator, ecliptic, and other circles on the celestial sphere. We need to act as though we were dimensionless beings and look at the universe from its center so that we can understand and observe the universe and the movements of its celestial bodies from a geocentric vantage point – i.e., as though the earth were the center of the universe. This may sound like a contradiction; but even when we observe the movements of an armillary sphere, we can't help but be aware of our firm conviction that the sun is the center of the universe. The armillary sphere is indispensable for the study of astronomy, and particularly its mathematical aspects. In using this instrument, one is keenly aware that in a sense it gave birth to the kind of equatorial sundial that we see in gardens and other open spaces.



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