Berlin Observatory
The construction of the new Berlin Observatory proceeded from a cabinet order of 10 November 1830 according to the design of Schinkel. An approximately one hectare plot was acquired at a price of 15,000 Thalers in the present-day area of Berlin-Kreuzberg. The foundation stone was laid on 22 October 1832 and the observatory was ready by 1835, on the area currently bounded by the streets ″Friedrichstraße″, ″Besselstraße″ and ″Lindenstraße″. The southern end of the ″Charlottenstraße″ was later named ″Enckeplatz″ in honor of the director at that time and the observatory acquired the address of Enckeplatz 3 A (now: ″Enckestraße 11″).
Wilhelm von Freeden
In Hamburg, in 1867, he founded the private North German Naval Observatory ("Norddeutsche Seewarte"), which he directed until 1875 when it became the German Naval Observatory ("Deutsche Seewarte"), an agency of the German Empire. The purpose of the observatory was to promote and to facilitate maritime intercourse. It was composed of a department of maritime meteorology; a bureau of nautical, meteorological, and magnetic instruments; a department of coast meteorology and signal service; and a bureau for testing chronometers. In 1945, the tasks of the German Naval Observatory were turned over to the German Hydrographic Institute ("Deutsche Hydrographische Institut"), and in 1990 that agency in turn became part of the present day Federal Department of Shipping and Hydrography ("Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie").