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U R A N I B O R G
39
in tended su b te r r a n e an passage way be tween U ran ibo rg and the ob se rva to ry Stje rneborg . It does not date
from the time of U r an ib o r g ’s erection, because in tha t case the post, wh ich suppo r ted a sextant, wou ld have
b een p laced on top o f the cellar. P e r h ap s the post was removed at the completion of S tje rneborg . Against
the w in d ow of the sou th -eas te rn room ano the r, smaller, cellar has been found. It may have served as drainage.
On the w e s te rn side of the n o r th e r n sem ic ircu la r passage the recons truc tion shows a descen t to
the fuel-store. Th e staircase, wh ich in the rep roduc tion leads from the fuel-store to the no rth -ea s te rn gues t
room, is based on the one shown in the Marbu rg -woodcu t (fig.
8
). In the m idd le of the r o tund a is the
b r ick -bu ilt well wh ich is still extant. The wooden stands, wh ich suppo r ted the wooden gallery enclosing
the ro tund a s , a re no t ind icated in the con tempo r a ry g r ound -p lan s of Uran iborg . In the con tempo r a ry fron t
elevations of the castle it looks as if the wooden s tands we re erected in d irect con tinua tion of the ou te r
walls of the sem ic ircu la r passages. On technical g rounds , however, this is h a rd ly conceivable. In the r e
con s truc tion of the p lans the s tands are the re fore placed .free of the walls of the sem ic ircu la r passages.
T h e g r o u n d - p l a n . In the recons truc tion the two en trance halls of the g r and en trance towers are
suppo sed to be covered with s ta r ry vaults. The two lavatories are based on those in the Ma rbu rg -woodcu t.
In the cen tre of the house, in the in tersecting po in t of the fou r passages, a foun tain with a ro ta to ry p a il
.1
The sou th -eas te rn room , the »win te r-room« , was the dwe lling -room of the family; it con tained , besides
two tables, and benche s fo rming a pa r t of the wall, a bedstead. The o th e r th ree rooms in the squa re are
in the c on t em po r a ry desc rip tions called guest-rooms. Also they had each the ir own ch imney . P r e sum a b l y
they have been used by T y cho ’s wife and ch ildren . The re were, in fact, besides tables and wa llbenches
two beds teads in each of these th ree rooms. F r om the no rth -ea s te rn one a passage led on to the k it
chen. Hence the room may also have been used as a d in ing -room . As shown in the Marbu rg -woodcu t, a
lavato ry was placed off the passage. Off the sou th -wes te rn room, in the pro jection between the squa re and
the ro tunda , an o t h e r lavatory occurred .
Later on the s ou th e rn passage d isappea red in tha t the »winter-room« was enlarged . Th is en la rgemen t
m u s t have involved th a t new doo rs we re set up in the »winter-room« and the ad jo in ing (south-western) gues t
room. In the co r n e r beh ind the ch imney of the »winter-room« Tycho a r rang ed a small a jchemistic labo
r a to ry w ith five stoves.
On the wes te rn wall in the ad jo in ing room Tycho ’s large mu ra l q u ad r an t was m o u n t e d
.2
The resu lt
of this was th a t the wes te rn w indow had to be b linded . At the same time an open ing was mad e in the
sou th e rn wall for observation , and in o r d e r to get a clear view the no r th -we s te rn s tand w ith the small ob
s e rva to ry mu s t at any rate have been removed . On the wall over the b rass arc of the mu ra l q u a d r a n t
Tycho h ad in 1587 a p ic tu re pain ted , rep resen ting h imse lf seated in the lib ra ry in the r o tund a and po in ting
up to the open ing in the sou th e rn wall. In the b a ckg round is seen a transve rse section of the sou the rn
ro tu n d a with the labo ra to ry below, the lib ra ry above tha t and upp e rmo s t the obse rva to ry (fig. 20). Hans
van S tenv inkel executed the a rch itectu ral part, the landscape was pa in ted by the King’s p a in te r at Kronborg ,
Hans Kn iepe r from An twerp , and the po r tra it by Tycho ’s pain ter, Tob ias Gemperle from Augsburg.
After the d isappea rance of the sou the rn passage in the first storey, the re was bu t one way of access
from th is storey into the lib r a ry and s tudy (museum) in the s ou the rn ro tunda , name ly th rough the »winter-
room« . In the room in the r o tund a the great globe was placed wh ich Tycho had o rde red in Augsburg.
In the recon s tru c tion the room is supposed covered with a ba rre l vault, suppo rted by the central pillar, and
p rov ided with lunettes. The room con tained p ic tures of scholars, from Tycho ’s time as well as from the
past, and insc ribed w ith latin verses by Tycho. In the sem ic ircu la r passage ro u n d the ro tund a the re were
two aviaries.
P l a t e 3. S e c o n d s t o r e y . The stairs in the no r th -wes te rn an d sou th-easte rn well-holes at the ro tunda
led from the first storey up to the observatories. These gave in the ir t u rn access to the open galleries with
the six sma lle r observatories. In the squa re facing Eas t lay the »blue room« and the »red room« , in the
g r an d po rta l pro jec tion the octagonal »yellow room«. In the Ma rbu rg -woodcu t, and hence in B raun ius too,
the two first men tioned rooms are called respectively »the Queen ’s room« and the »King’s room«. The
»summe r-room« , i. e. the s itting -room in summe r, o r the »green room« toge the r with the octagonal room
in the g r a n d po rta l pro jec tion occupied the western pa r t of the en tire storey. The ceiling of the »summer-
room« was ado rn ed with rep resen ta tions of o rnamen ta l foliage. The lovely view from he re over the Sound
w ith the many sailing sh ips is pa r ticu la rly men tioned by Tycho.
1 Denoted w ith a B in the Marburg-woodcut and explained as follow s: Fons Aquarium uolubilem rotans qui aquas hinc inde
ejaculatur. In the German text to Braunius the translation runs: Ein Brunn mit eim umbdrahlichen Eimer, w elcher das Wasser hin
und her geust.
2 It had at any rate been in use since Iune 1582. Dreyer, Tycho Brahe p. 101.