Mayer Röhl Award for Lifetime Achievements
The Mayer Röhl Award was introduced in the year 2012, on the occasion of the 250th Anniversary (1762 - 2012) of the first teaching assignment in astronomy in Greifswald. It is also the highest award of the association to honor lifetime achievements of important personalities, either in support of the association Observatory Greifswald e.V. or towards astronomy in and around Greifswald (Baltic Sea area). It's prize money is € 555 and was handed out in 2013 for the very first time.
Provided professional and personal qualifications exist, prizes can be awarded only once. Meaningful applications by a recommending third party can be submitted to the management board under sternwarte-greifswald at web.de at any time. Applicants must have demonstrated that they contributed outstanding services to the goodwill of all mankind and nature, to towards international understanding and / or to peace on Earth. Legal Base: Association Articles § 2 Purpose, Benefit to the Public - Para. 5b.
A prize money of € 1,665 has been handed out for this Lifetime Achievement Award alone. The total distributed prize money for all Greifswald Astronomy Awards has already reached an amount of € 5,165 (updated on Jan 20, 2024).
We want to thank all our members as well as friends & sponsors like the Volksbank Greifswald, the Travel agent "Reisebüro Go Atlantis" as well as the Peter Warschow Foundation Greifswald for their amazing financial support.
Previous Mayer Röhl Award Winners
2017 - Dietmar Fürst & his Team, Remplin
- For his honorary work during the reconstruction of the Observatory Remplin since 1980.
- For the first time in more than 200 years, the eldest observatory of Land Mecklenburg could offer an observation of the Sun again!
2015 - Prof. Dr. Manfred Schukowski, Rostock
- Investigations on European astronomical large clocks (e.g. St. Mary Church to Rostock),
- Publisher of many astronomy (text) books and for his merits to
- Maintain astronomy as a lesson in German Federal Land Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV).
2013 - Prof. Dr. Joachim Buhrow, Greifswald
- 66 years of contributing to the Observatory Greifswald and
- Author & Editor of Book "500 Years of Great Astronomers at the Baltic Sea".
Andreas Mayer (1716-1782) and Lambert Heinrich Röhl (1733-1790) are regarded as the founders of astronomy in Greifswald. One of their important scientific accomplishments were the observations of the Venus Transits 1761 & 1769. Data from their observations led to the determination of the absolute distance between the Sun and Earth - during the first joined European research project. By using that distance and the Kepler's laws, all other absolute distances in our solar system could be calculated for the very first time, in western astronomy.
[Editorial note: Today, the distance Sun - Earth is known as an Astronomical Unit (1 AU = 150 Mio. km).
The distance Sun - Earth, as the 108 multiple of the Sun's diameter, was already known to the writers of the Indian Vedas ca. 6,000 years, ago. It seems that those ancient scripts or the coding in them was unknown in the 18th century, cp. for example the book "The Astronomical Code of The Rgveda" by Subhash Kak.]
Your Donations are Welcome
Your donations towards the base capital
for the Mayer Röhl Award and its prize money (€ 555)
are heartily welcome.
Our bank details: Greifswalder Sternwarte e.V.
IBAN: DE33 1309 1054 0014 8025 78
BIC: GENO DEF1 HST
at Volksbank Vorpommern e.G., Greifswald, Germany.
Designated use: "Your name + Address" ... in order to enable us to send you the contribution receipts automatically at the beginning of the new year. In case you want to be mentioned publicly as a donor then please add: "Yes - publish". Please, indicate any earmarked donations. Your regular bank statements will be sufficient as a simplified proof towards EU fiscal authorities, up to an amount of € 300.
Intended use of your donations
We are using all your donations, entrance and membership fees
for purposes as stated in the associations articles
which will be regularly checked for charitable status by the Finanzamt Greifswald (tax and revenue office).
Charitable status was confirmed for the last time, on March 18, 2021. We are looking back on a very successful tradition, since the inauguration of our association over 25 years ago, on July 29, 1992. We are getting legal tax advice from a renowned tax accountant of office in Greifswald. Additionally, we have two internal account auditors who are independent of the management board and they were elected by the association's annual meeting.
Administrating an association by the management board is under the strict terms of Vereinsregister [Register of associations] at Amtsgericht Stralsund [until May 30, 2018 at Amtsgericht Greifswald - Changes ex officio].
Further Astronomy Awards from Greifswald, Germany
"Discover the Joy of Astronomy" (€ 1,000 - 1st Generation)
- Addresses pupils in the Baltic Sea area.
- Honors Prof. Manfred Schukowski (1928 - ...) from Rostock, DE - For his great contributions towards astronomy lessons in the German school system, for decades.
- Current call until June 30, 2022 - For works that have been generated after December 01, 2021.
- Jury consists of members of Observatory Greifswald e.V..
- Handing over of the award around the observatory's anniversary (July 12, 2022) .
"Towards New Horizons in Astronomy & Aerospace" - Sponsoring award (€ 2,000 - 2nd Generation).
- Addresses adults interested in astronomy, students, PhD students and Postdocs.
- In memoriam of Prof. Johannes Conrads (1934-2005, long-term member of association,
Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon for his ground-laying and reviving works in Greifswald - 2001).
- Current call until October 31, 2023 - For works that have been generated after January 01, 2022.
- Well-respected international jury from the Baltic Sea area.
- Awarding of the winner is typically scheduled for the association's annual meeting in January of the following year.
Provided professional and personal qualifications exist, prizes can be awarded only once - Prize awards can be omitted where applicable. Applicants must demonstrate how they contributed outstanding services to the goodwill of all mankind and nature, to towards international understanding and / or to peace on Earth. Recourse to legal processes are excluded, i.e. the jury decisions are final.