Berlin Observatory
The Berlin Observatory (Berliner Sternwarte) is a German astronomical institution with a series of observatories and related organizations in and around the city of Berlin in Germany, starting from the 18th century. It has its origins in 1700 when Gottfried Leibniz initiated the "Brandenburg Society of Science″ ("Sozietät der Wissenschaften") which would later (1744) become the Prussian Academy of Sciences ("Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften"). The Society had no observatory but nevertheless an astronomer, Gottfried Kirch, who observed from a private observatory in Berlin. A first small observatory was furnished in 1711, financing itself by calendrical computations.
Urania (Berlin)
Urania is a scientific society founded in Berlin in 1888, following an idea of Alexander von Humboldt, by and Wilhelm Foerster. Its aim is to communicate the most recent scientific findings to the broad public. With its 2000 members, Urania organizes more than 1000 events per year which attract about 130 000 visitors. Since its centenary in 1988, the society has awarded the "Urania Medaille" annually to individuals who have supported significantly the implementation of its aims. Recipients are Nobel laureates in natural science as well as social scientists, artists, and politicians.