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U R A N I B O R G
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the stone pillar, I, the »Parnassus« w ith the statue of Mercury, the en trance and eve ry th ing visible above
g r o u n d of the obse rva to ries C, G and D, as well as the paling.
P l a t e 9. Above, section towa rd s no r th th rough the an te room in fron t of the w a rm in g room. Below,
the back of the en tran c e and the roo f of the staircase is seen ; to the righ t of this the niche, S, the beg inn ing
of the con temp la ted sec re t passage. To the left the section is laid th rough the staircase to the observatory ,
E, wh ich con ta ined the zodiacal a rm illa ry sphere, to the r igh t th rough the observato ry , D, with the movab le
q u ad r an t . On the ex treme left and r igh t we have the s tands N a n d L w ith th e ir globes (here covered)
wh ich cou ld su p p o r t sextants. Beh ind them the paling is shown .
In the midd le , a section towa rds south. It is laid th r o u g h the w a rm in g room, B; in the b a ckg round
is the en t ran c e to the large s ou th e rn obse rva to ry , C, the t am b o u r and dome of wh ich rise above that. To
the left we see first the en trance to the storage-room, R, then a section th rough the observatory , G, with
its sextant. To the r igh t of the w a rm in g room we see firstly the second en trance to the large observato ry ,
C, th e n a section th rough the obse rva to ry , F, w ith the steel qu ad ran t. On the ex treme left and right, in
f ron t of the paling , we have two stone pillars, I and H, and two stands, K and T, w ith th e ir globes.
As to the dome s over the observatories, F and G, it is expressly stated tha t they could be moved and
we re p rov id ed w ith shu tte rs. Also the dome over the observatory , C, has been made so tha t it could
be opened .
The section be low is laid towa rd s west th rough the large observato ry , C, the w a rm ing room, B, the
sta ircase and the en trance , A. In the large obse rva to ry we have the Negro king, Atlas, u n d e r the globe on
wh ich the dec lina tion axis of the a rm illa ry sphe re rests. In the w a rm ing room is seen on the left the
b eg inn ing of the passage lead ing to the observatory , F. To the r igh t of the w a rm ing room lies the an te room
w ith the passage lead ing to the obse rva to ry , E. The vau lt of the w a rm ing room was covered with earth
a n d sods so th a t a small g rassy hill arose. It rep resen ted Pa rnassus. Like the golden Pegasus the vane of
U r an ibo rg , the »Parnassus« over the s tudy of S tje rnebo rg was me an t to indicate tha t Insp ira tion c rowns
the investigations of science. On the hill stood a statue of Mercury in me ta l, 1 ell in he igh t, cast from
an an tiqu e model. It could be t u rn ed by mean s of a mechan ism . But, Hen rik Ju lius, Duke of Brunsw ick -
Wo lfenb iittel, b ro th e r - in - law to King Christian IV., who visited Tycho on the 4 th of May 1590, took such
a fancy to the figure tha t Tycho had to p resen t h im with it on the as sump tion tha t the fo rme r p rov ided
an exact copy. However, the duke neve r fulfilled his p romise , in spite of several rem inde rs , wha t Tycho
m ad e pub lic comp la in t of in the »Astronomical letters«.
The sp ire over the lan te rn on the dome of the large obse rva to ry was cons truc ted in a way s im ila r
to th a t of the sp ire over the lan te rn on the ma in dome of Uran iborg .
r r i s m w M
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HOVEDBIBLIOTEKET