Lecture by Tim Florian Horn
Few people realise that there was once a planetarium in Berlin of which no trace remains today: on 27 November 1926, Berlin’s first planetarium opened its doors at the Zoo. But how was it even possible back then to reproduce the night sky faithfully in an enclosed space?
Image gallery
Berliner Planetarium am Zoo
Planetarium Director Tim Florian Horn takes you back to the beginnings of Berlin’s first planetarium: from early attempts to artificially recreate the starry sky, through celestial globes and mechanical planetariums, to the first optical-mechanical projection devices.
Find out what technical and social conditions made the project possible – and how the planetarium developed into a centre for astronomical education and public outreach.
Accompanying projections, real-image footage and 360° animations bring the history of the planetarium and people’s ideas about the sky to life beneath the great dome.
To mark the 100th anniversary, the exhibition finally looks far beyond Berlin – from the first projection planetariums to today’s digital domes. What new technical developments lie ahead – and what role will planetariums play in the future?
Additional information
Dates
November 2026
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