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Strasbourg Cathedral’s astronomical clock is one of the most famous monuments to Time in the world. No other clock has been described and appreciated so often and in such a myriad of ways. There were three clocks built consecutively within the cathedral: the earlier fourteenth century clock has left little trace; a second clock was realized in 1570-1574; while the nineteenth century clock began as a proposal for repairs, but was intended by its maker as a replacement clock. This book gives a detailed outline of the artistic and technical components of the second clock, much of which survives, and it describes the astronomical indications and its underlying conceptual framework. The author has discovered a hitherto disregarded contemporary statement that the clock displays four ways of determining the ascendant as described by Ptolemy. He also shows that the Strasbourg clock is the result of a highly original reception of the architectural theory of Vitruvius and other mathematical and mechanical texts of Late Antiquity.

Revised and updated translation from the German edition Die Straßburger Münsteruhr: Funktion und Bedeutung eines Kosmos-Modells des 16. Jahrhunderts. Published by GNT-Verlag in 1993.

See inside this book.
In: Zum Planetarium

Abstract

From the middle of the fourteenth century until the Early Modern period, several monumental astronomical clocks were erected in Europe, and on many of them astrolabe dials were placed. On a group of earlier clocks, “southern astrolabes” (i.e. with stereographic projection from the North Pole) were employed, whereas later examples show a “northern astrolabe” (i.e., a stereographic projection from the South Pole), which is commonly used on portable astrolabes. The material and textual evidence as well as reasons for this change shall be examined. Moreover, the question of transmission of special variants of stereographic projection from East to West will be discussed.

In: Astrolabes in Medieval Cultures

Abstract

From the middle of the fourteenth century until the Early Modern period, several monumental astronomical clocks were erected in Europe, and on many of them astrolabe dials were placed. On a group of earlier clocks, “southern astrolabes” (i.e. with stereographic projection from the North Pole) were employed, whereas later examples show a “northern astrolabe” (i.e., a stereographic projection from the South Pole), which is commonly used on portable astrolabes. The material and textual evidence as well as reasons for this change shall be examined. Moreover, the question of transmission of special variants of stereographic projection from East to West will be discussed.

In: Astrolabes in Medieval Cultures

Abstract

From the middle of the fourteenth century until the Early Modern period, several monumental astronomical clocks were erected in Europe, and on many of them astrolabe dials were placed. On a group of earlier clocks, “southern astrolabes” (i.e. with stereographic projection from the North Pole) were employed, whereas later examples show a “northern astrolabe” (i.e., a stereographic projection from the South Pole), which is commonly used on portable astrolabes. The material and textual evidence as well as reasons for this change shall be examined. Moreover, the question of transmission of special variants of stereographic projection from East to West will be discussed.

In: Medieval Encounters
In: The Astronomical Clock of Strasbourg Cathedral
In: The Astronomical Clock of Strasbourg Cathedral
In: The Astronomical Clock of Strasbourg Cathedral