The renaissance of Turku

Vartiovuori Hill

Astronomy in Turku ended as the Academy of Turku and the observatory were moved to Helsinki. The old observatory was transformed into a school of navigation. Later it served as a museum of navigation and is currently unused.

Yrjö Väisälä


Yrjö Väisälä
(1891-1971)

A new Finnish language university was founded in Turku in 1920. Yrjö Väisälä from the Geodetic Institute became the professor of physics in 1923. He began teaching astronomy anew. The students were so excited that they petitioned the chancellor for re-instating astronomy as a subject. The professorship of astronomy returned to Turku on 18th February 1927, with Yrjö Väisälä as the professor.