Das Brachymedialfernrohr von Edwin Rolf ist das größte seiner Art auf der Welt. Es wurde 1948-53 von dem begeisterten Hobbyastronomen und Optiker in seinem Garten in Rathenow (Brandenburg) gebaut.

Die Geschichte des Teleskops, seiner Optik und seiner Nutzung sowie ein paar Daten über seinen 1991 verstorbenen Konstrukteur habe ich in einer kleinen Monographie zusammengestellt.

Telescope Technology

In his own amateur film ‘Wir besuchen die Sternwarte Rathenow’ (We visit the Rathenow Observatory), Edwin Rolf explains the optical principle using a diagram. Still image from the film photographed and colourised by Susanne M Hoffmann, 2014.

Historical Documents

A short version/ excerpt of the movie

My own documentation of the dismantling of the historic device at the school and its reconstruction in the Optikpark in Advent 2008 can be found at SciLogs published by Spektrum-Verlag.

* Telescope dismantled (St. Nicholas Day 2008)

* Telescope at its new location (Christmas 2008)

A video by Eberhard Rabe from Rathenow can be found on YouTube:

Comparison with Archenhold’s Telescope at Berlin

The refractor at the Archenhold Observatory in Berlin is suitable for comparison with the Rolf-Medial. This telescope, built in 1896, three years before Schupmann’s fundamental concept paper, is a pure refractor, apochromatic with a flint and a crown glass lens. The diameter of 70 cm has been reduced to 68 cm due to a broken shell. The refractor is 21 m long. Its focal length is 20 cm greater than that of the Rathenow Brachymedial, which is only 10.15 m long.