KONKOLY OBSERVATORY (KONKOLY OBSZERVATÓRIUM)

The birth of astronomy in Hungary probably dates from May 16, 1899, when the landowner Miklós Konkoly-Thege (1842-1916), whose family had been ennobled in the 13th century, donated his observatory in Ógyalla to the Hungarian state. The culture and practice of astronomy then took root in the country. If Miklós Konkoly-Thege left such a legacy, it is because his experience in this field was so deeply rooted in him that from 1863 onwards, after his studies of physics and astronomy, he travelled throughout Europe to discover the most prestigious observatories. A field training that he completed years later by visiting the workshops of the largest instrument manufacturers of the time, including the Merz factory in Munich, to whom we owe many splendid astronomical glasses. In 1871, he had a small diameter telescope installed in his castle, allowing him to observe the stars and planets at his leisure, and then two domes in the park of his palace, one of which housed a 270 mm diameter telescope. Other instruments complete this set, including a telescope of Merz of 152 mm of diameter. The studies and measurements that he obtained, with the help of his collaborators, propelled the observatory among the most serious in Europe. But at the end of the 19th century, Konkoly had to realize that he no longer had the funds to continue such work, and began to negotiate with the state for associated funding. From 1899 and his bequest it is done, and the observatory develops rapidly with instruments and more modern techniques (photography in particular). Catalogs of stars (variables) are published, fruits of a rigorous work carried out by the astronomers. On February 16, 1916, Konkoly died of a heart attack at the age of 74. After the destruction caused by the First World War and the break-up of the country and its population, what remained of the observatory was moved to the hills of Budapest, where new instruments were installed. During the Second World War, the observatory continued to function until December 1944, despite the events and the bombings. On December 25th, the Russian soldiers occupied the place and stayed there... for 45 years! During the following decades, the observation of stars remains one of the main activities of the site, as well as the study of the Sun.