Sternwarte Davidschlag

The Davidschlag Observatory stands in the hills above Linz, about 30 kilometres north of the city. It sits on Kirchschlag bei Linz land at roughly 820 metres above sea level, where the surrounding terrain keeps light pollution low despite the nearby capital. Built in 1978 by amateur astronomers Erich Meyer and Erwin Obermair, it became one of Austria’s first successful private sites for tracking asteroids and comets. The observatory holds the IAU code 540 and has long specialised in finding and re-locating small solar-system bodies. The work here has been recognised internationally. Two asteroids now bear the names of the founders, Meyer and Obermair, while another honours Herbert Raab, who joined the team early on. Over the years the team discovered about two dozen new asteroids and helped refine the orbits of many more. In 2002 their measurements removed any risk of the asteroid 2002 NT7 striking Earth in 2019. Precise tracking of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1993 even helped predict its impact on Jupiter. Inside the 4.5-metre dome a 60-centimetre reflector on a Rudolf Pressberger mount once gathered data, later upgraded with modern CCD cameras and software. Though the observatory is now being rebuilt and no main instrument is in place, its historical role remains clear. Visitors can still see the original Newtonian telescope and the control systems that guided decades of discovery. The quiet hilltop setting offers clear skies and a view across the Mühlviertel landscape.