page_title: Qingdao Observatory
section_title: Establishment and initial development of the observatory
hierarchical_section_title: Qingdao Observatory / History / Establishment and initial development of the observatory
context_page_description: The Qingdao Observatory is located on the summit of Guanxiang Mountain in the Shinan District of Qingdao, China. The existing building complex was originally built in 1905. Qingdao Observatory was once an important scientific research institute in Qingdao, and also played an important role in the development of modern meteorology and marine science in China. Together with Shanghai Xujiahui Observatory and Hong Kong Observatory, they once were known as the "Three Observatory in the Far East". Qingdao Observatory has been listed as "Meterology Observation Dome" amongst the "Top Ten Scenic Spots in Qingdao". Its building complex now belongs to the North Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy and the Zijinshan Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and is part of the Qingdao German Building Complex, a national key cultural relics conservation site.
context_section_description: On July 23, 1896, the German navy Iltis gunboat was hit by the storm and sunk in the waters of the Yongluo Island in Rongcheng, Qingdao. The German navy believed that the lack of an accurate weather forecast was one of the reasons for this shipwreck. In 1898, German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen proposed in his book Shandong and its portal Jiaozhou Bay (German: Schantung und seine Eingangspforte Kiautschou) to repurpose the Jiaozhou Bay Leased Territory of Qingdao into a scientific research centre with an observatory to observe marine weather.
  On March 1, 1898, the German Navy Port Surveying Department set up a temporary organisation responsible for astronomical meteorological observations and land surveys in Qingdao. Their base of operations was officially named Metrology and Astronomy Observatory on June 14 of the same year. It’s currently located in office blocks surrounding the Public Security Bureau of Qingdao, and initially served only to observe temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind force, etc. The institute conducts meteorological observations 3 times per day and reports daily weather maps and forecasts (including storm warnings). In 1904, Qingdao Observatory extended its operations to astronomy and timekeeping functions. On May 10, 1905, the observatory moved to Guanshan Mountain. In 1909, the observatory’s operations extended further to include topographic surveys and geomagnetic, seismic, tide and sunspot observations.
  On January 1, 1911, the observatory was officially renamed the Royal Observatory of Qingdao. On January 9, 1912, the observatory building was completed. The Qingdao New Newspaper and the Shanghai German Newspaper subsequently reported the inauguration ceremony of the Observatory. At the end of Germany’s lease for Qingdao territory in 1914, the scientific scope of the observatory has already encompassed astronomy, meteorology, earthquakes, geomagnetism, tide observations, timekeeping, topographic surveys, and sea surveys. There were more than ten observatories in Jinan and the Weixian County along the Jiaoji Railway as well.
caption: Groundbreaking ceremony of the observatory building, 11 June, 1910
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