Observatories that I have visited:
Boberg's observatory at Skansen, Sweden

A visit to Skansen where Boberg's observatory is placed in Sweden

A few years ago I translated an old document about Sweden's old observatories into English. It mentioned, among other things, an observatory set up at Skansen in Stockholm. The observatories were a gift from Ferdinand Boberg, a famous Swedish architect.

On the hill of Skansen, the observatory is set up, guarded by the canons. The location is in the southwest corner of Solliden, that's where Skansen has its scene, to the right in the picture. Originally, the observatory was further into the park, maybe 100 meters to the right. It was moved to this place in 1993.

Ferdinand Boberg donated this observatory to Skansen on his 50th birthday in 1910. He also had two secret friends who helped share the costs. In 1997, the observatory was renovated and the park around it was laid out. Note that the railing surrounding the observatory park has the signs of the Zodiac.

The entrance to the observatory. On the right side on the entrance there is a scale model of the planets of our solar system. However, the distances between them are not to scale relative to their size. Our largest planets, Jupiter and Saturn, are here the size of a football. Previously there was a sign here with information about the observatory, but it has been removed.

The model of the planets seen from close up. The closest one, the one that is so small that it is barely visible on the cubic shaped stone it is placed on. It is the planet Pluto, when in 1997 it was still called a planet. However, for a few years from now it has been classified as a dwarf planet. Not everyone has accepted that.

The three innermost planets, the closest to us being our planet Earth. And behind them the planets Venus and Mercury.

The entrance to the observatory was locked and no information could be found about whether they had tours of the observatory.

An old drawing of the building shows how the telescope was mounted on a tall pillar in the middle of the observatory building.

The dome, where the telescope is located. The size of the dome is said to be our Sun in scale with the size of the planets we just looked at.

The original telescope that was located here was donated to the old Stockholm Observatory. Here is a photo of the 13.5 cm refractor after it has been moved to Stockholm old Observatory. A new telescope was donated the year they renovated the building at Skansen, 1997, by Zeiss. Here is an article about Boberg's Observatory published by STAR, PDF in Swedish.

After we left the observatory, we asked a man who worked here at Skansen about the observatory. We asked why there was no information sign and if they planned to have tours of the observatory. He promised that they would bring it up at a future meeting.