Mannheim Planetarium Celebrates Its 90th Birthday!

The Mannheim Planetarium, Germany, was built in the lower Luisenpark. As the consequence of special soil character, it had to be erected on 128 concrete pillars  planted 6 m deep into the ground.
The Mannheim Planetarium (1933)

Mannheim planetarium in the lower Luisenpark on the postcard sent in 1933.

The projection dome had a diameter of 24.5 m and provided space for 514 seats. The dumbbell-shaped Model II Zeiss projector, mounted in the centre of the dome. The first show was held on March 22, 1927. The planetarium building was damaged during the war in air attack, September 1943 and never rebuilt after. Another large planetarium in Mannheim with 20 m dome diameter was founded on the Europe Square in the course of Wilhelm-Varnholt- Allee on December 2, 1984. Since the planetarium inauguration, two generations of the opto-mechanical projectors were installed here: Model VI, and since October 2002 to the present time, Univrsarium Model IX. In October 2015, the digital fulldome projection system with nine VELVET projectors had been installed here. All the projectors – both opto-mechanical and digital – were produced by Zeiss company.
The Mannheim Planetarium (2008)

Mannheim planetarium on the Europe Square in the course of Wilhelm-Varnholt- Allee. (photo: Bartosz Dąbrowski.)

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