S_UraniborgOgStjærneborg

U R A N I B O R G II E X P L A N A T O R Y T E X T TO T H E P L A T E S

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P l a t e 1. The ma in en tran ce to U r an ibo rg was from the west. F r om the wes te rn ga teway of the wall issued the road to the chu rch . It was c rossed (outside the p a r t of the island w h ich is shown on the plate) by a road lead ing from Tun a , the on ly village on the island , on to the beach . Here, on the w e s te rn side of the island , the side facing Sealand , the p rinc ipa l place of land ing m u s t have been in T y c ho ’s time. Besides, two ro ad s tr end ed off from th e gateway in a n o r t h e r n direc tion . One ran past the place w h e r e assizes w e r e he ld by the peasan ts, and the w ind -m ill, and f u r th e r th r o u g h the village Tuna . Th e o th e r me re ly led on to the w o rk shop . F r om the easte rn gateway a road tr end e d off in a n o r t h e r n d irec tion . It c rossed the enclosed field wh ich be longed to the m a no r -hou s e and c on tinu ed towa rd s Tuna . F r om the passage way in the so u t h ­ eas te rn p a r t of the wall, close to the printing-office, roads o r pa th s issued lead ing respectively to the farm and fu r th e r on to the beach , to S tje rnebo rg and to the la rge r p as tu res and p rese rves in s ou th and east. Over the ga teway bu il d ing s , of Tu scan o rde r, the re we re room s for a coup le of large Eng lish dogs. Besides, these bu ild ing s con ta ined guest-rooms. F r om an excavation in the rem a in s of the w e s te rn ga te ­ w ay it app e a r ed th a t the veh icu la r tho rough fa re was 3.70 m. in w id th and paved w ith fieldstones. The p la s te r of the s ide -wa lls was p a in ted blue, and the bu ild ing s of the gateways roofed in w ith s q u a r e s la te s .1 The printing-office and the bu ild ing for the domestics, s itua ted respectively at the s o u th e r n and n o r t h e r n ang les of the wa lls , we re exactly alike and repe titions on a redu ced scale of the ma in b u il d in g , i. e. a squa re w ith polygon towe rs at the m idd le of the sides of the square. The eas te rn and w e s te rn towe rs te rm in a ted in conical spires, the n o r t h e r n and s o u th e rn in domes. As to the p lans of the bu ild ing s no th ing is known . The castle-prison , however, has been located b enea th the bu ild ing for the domestics. It possessed b u t an ou ts ide en trance . In the recon s truc tion one of the towe rs in each bu il d ing is in tend ed for a stair- case-tower. The en tire leng th of the walls is stated to be 300 feet. On the o th e r hand , the s ta temen ts as to th e ir bo ttom w id th and th e ir he igh t vary. In the text to the Ma rbu rg woodcu ts (figs. 8-10) an d con s equ en t ly in B raun iu s , too, it is said th a t the he igh t from the base (ab imo fundamen to ) is 18 feet, th e w id th at the base (crassitudo infima) 14 feet, the w id th at top 9 feet. Th is re la tion between the w id th above and be low involves tha t the walls m u s t have been covered w ith b ricks. But, as has a lre ady been said, we have h e re ev iden tly on ly to do w ith a draft. In Tycho B r a h e ’s own w ritings the he igh t of the walls are, on the o th e r h a nd , stated to be 22 feet, the bo ttom w id th 20 feet (and the ins ide d iame te r of the sem ic ircu la r b e n d s to abou t 90 feet). The dep th at top is no t stated. The re fo re it canno t be settled w h e th e r the sides of the walls w e r e covered with b r ick s o r not. P l a t e 2. Th e g r o u nd -p la n s of Uran ibo rg , pub lish ed in Ty cho ’s time, are, even in the ma in features, incorrect. The r u in s of the castle p rove tha t the sou th e rn sem ic ircu la r passage (of wh ich a lone rem a in s are extant) was w id e r th an th a t shown in the g round -p lan . As the castle was symme tr ica l — th is be ing exp res s ly stated — the n o r t h e r n sem ic ircu la r passage co r r e spond ed to the sou the rn . Th u s it is also ind ica ted in the recon s truc tion . F u r t h e r , the g round -p lan s show the g r and po rta l p ro jec tions as rec tangu la r. Bu t in the Ma rbu rg woodcu ts (and hence in Braun ius) as well as in Ty cho ’s own w riting s they are explicitly m e n ­ tioned as be ing squ a r e at bo ttom. Moreover, the lateral dep th is stated (Ma rbu rg -B raun iu s 14 feet, Tycho 15 feet). In the recon s truc tion the p ro jec tions a re shown as squa re s on the inside. T h e p l a n o f t h e b a s e m e n t . The section t h rough the basemen t, wh ich is found in A s tronom ia e in s tau ra tae mechan ica , shows the cellar b en e a th the easte rn ha lf of the squa re as a single co lumn a ted room (fig. 3). But the s ta ircase , lead ing from the »w in te r-room« , i. e. the sitting -room in w in te r, dow n to the cellar, is no t ind icated in the perspective. Consequen tly it is no t correct. In the recon s truc tion it is p r e ­ sum ed tha t the b a s emen t was d iv ided in the same way as the first storey. In the s ou th e rn pro jec tion T y cho ’s chemica l labo ra to ry was situated . In add ition , a coal-cellar occu r red in the sem ic ircu la r passage. The ou ts ide en trance to the cellar faced east. Ins ide the labo ra to ry was en te red from the spiral staircase in the well-hole be tween the r o tund a and the square. To th is well-hole th e re was egress from the »w in te r-room« in the first s to rey an d from the ob se rva to ry in the second s to rey of the ro tunda . Sou th of the sem ic ircu la r passage a n d commun ica ting w ith it, a cellar has been discovered . It is not men tion ed in con t em po r a ry desc r ip tion s of U ran ibo rg . P e rh ap s it rep re sen ts the b eg inn ing to the

1 Archenbold und Albrecht, Ausgrabungen der Sternwartenreste T ycho Brahes auf der Insel Hveen, Berlin 1904 (reprint from: Das Weltall) p. 13 ff.