Kuffner-Observatory's Astronomer's Lounge

Escape the heat of the city and relax in the Kuffner-Observatory's shady and cool garden after a long GA day;

Admire the authentic and intact 19th century observatory founded in 1884 by Jewish entrepreneur, beer-brewer and mountaineer Moriz von Kuffner;

Look at the complete observatory equipment and the restaurated instruments included the world's largest Heliometer, responsible for 16 of the 100 star-distances known in 1917, as well as Karl Schwarzschild's original astrograph, used to set the foundations of 20th century astrophysical photometry.

And after dark: observe Mars and the rest with the observatory's original 1887 and 1892 telescopes.

Exhausted? Enjoy the world famous wines and snacks of one of the “Heurigen”-wine-gardens a few steps from the observatory.

The Großmugl Milky-Way Express

Take the express to reach the Großmugl Starlight Oasis with its impressive Milky Way, the beauty of a summer-night in moonshine or with the last Perseids, and admire the Hallstatt-era giant tumulus – the largest hill-grave in central Europe with its authentic and impressive night-time appearance.

Only 40 min by car from downtown Vienna, the Großmugl Starlight Oasis is the world's fastest way to reach an impressive Milky Way from any of the worlds capitals or metro areas.

Take a vegan snack at Schillinger's “Swing Kitchen“ in Großmugl and walk the 20 minutes to the observing site, protected from the lights of Vienna by three mountain ridges and the Eastern Alps.

At the unique tumulus site enjoy the 360° free horizon for a midsummer sunset, the summer milky way coming out in the late twilight and a view of all the constellations that once were visible everywhere. Take a glimpse of light from Deneb – light, that left the star at the time when ancient „Großmuglers“ made the giant tomb in the Hallstatt-period, ~2600 years ago.

The Starlight Alp

See a pristine, unpolluted mountain-sky from an easy-access cosy alpine high-meadow in the Eastern Alps – a place known as an „Alm“ in Austria – about 200 km from Vienna.

While the new „starlight“ world heritage sites of the „Dürrenstein Wildernis“ and the „Kalkalpen National Park“ are rugged mountain chains, protecting the last primary forest of the Alps, its post-ice-age biodiversity and their pristine night-skies and night-scapes by their inaccessibility, there is a nearby mountain chain with easy, save and relaxing access to the Alpine Skies for the non-mountaineer + family.

Located only a few kilometers from the „pole of artificial darkness“, the minimum-light as shown on the Falchi et. al. 2016 world atlas of artificial sky brightness (aka „light pollution“), the Starlight Alp offers a comfortable alpine stargazing place at ~1800 m above the Adriatic sea – cool, wind protected, but not too fresh in summer. Excellent viewing conditions, facilities and overnight support by a mountain-hut, no drop-offs, no gaping canyons, just grassy surfaces for easy walking in pure starlight.

The adventurous star-gazer can hike to a number of nearby grass-summits (2000-2300 m) within an hour to experience the firmament from an alpine summit right at the center of the Alpine „sea of mountains“.

 Info and Reservation: Verein@Kuffner-Sternwarte.at