The Einstein Tower is an astrophysical observatory in the Albert Einstein Science Park in Potsdam, Germany built by architect Erich Mendelsohn. It was built on the summit of the Potsdam Telegraphenberg to house a solar telescope designed by the astronomer Erwin Finlay-Freundlich. The telescope supports experiments and observations to validate Albert Einstein's relativity theory. The building was first conceived around 1917, built from 1919 to 1921 after a fund-raising drive, and became operational in 1924. Although Einstein never worked there, he supported the construction and operation of the telescope. It is still a working solar observatory today as part of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam. Light from the telescope is directed down through the shaft to the basement where the instruments and laboratory are located. There were more than half a dozen telescopes in the laboratory.
The Einsteinturm in Potsdam, Germany
A rear view of Erich Mendelsohn's Einstein Tower
Zeiss-type Coelostat in the dome of the Einstein Tower. On the right is the heliostat. On the left, a mirror which reflects the beam of light down the tower. The mirrors were covered with protection caps when the photo was taken.
Erich Mendelsohn ; 21 March 1887 – 15 September 1953) was a German-British architect, known for his expressionist architecture in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic functionalism in his projects for department stores and cinemas. Mendelsohn was a pioneer of the Art Deco and Streamline Moderne architecture, notably with his 1921 Mossehaus design.
Erich Mendelsohn (1925)
Einstein Tower in Potsdam
Hat Factory in Luckenwalde
Weizmann residence, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot