Image: facebook.com/ooekultur
It probably belonged to a merchant who lost it while resting on a road near Regau (Vöcklabruck district) that already existed in Roman times: around 600 years later, an antique pocket folding sundial has now appeared again. A probe visitor discovered them in a field about 20 centimeters deep. This was announced by the Upper Austrian State Culture GmbH.
“At first I didn’t know it was a pocket sundial,” says Christian H. about his discovery. It was only after he saw an image of a folding sundial by Georg von Peuerbach in an article about the forthcoming communale oö exhibition that it dawned on him that he might have made a historically valuable find. He reported to the OÖ Landes Kultur GmbH.
“A Remarkable Find”
There, his hunch was confirmed by experts. The sundial probably dates from the second half of the 15th century and, according to the Federal Monuments Office, is the earliest form of a folding sundial ever found in Upper Austria. “This is a very remarkable find,” says Alfred Weidinger from the OÖ Landes-Kultur GmbH.
The instrument, cast in brass and measuring 6.2 centimeters in length, bears an astonishing resemblance to the two well-known folding sundials made by the famous astronomer Georg von Peuerbach, who is believed to have invented them. It can be assumed that the timepiece was manufactured in Nuremberg. In 1488 there were already eleven “compass makers” who almost exclusively made folding sundials. Regiomontanus, a student of Peuerbach, made several folding sundials there.
Exhibition in Peuerbach Castle
The public will have the opportunity to see this exciting find in the upcoming Communale at Peuerbach Castle from May 31, 2023. The exhibition will also present the two original folding sundials by the inventor, Georg von Peuerbach. These date from the years 1451 and 1463.
Source: Nachrichten
