View source for Rudolf König

{{Short description|Austrian merchant, astronomer and selenographer}}
{{other people}}
[[File:Rudolf_König.jpg|thumb|Rudolf König]]
'''Rudolf König''' (18 August 1865 &ndash; 30 January 1927) was an [[Austria]]n merchant, amateur [[astronomer]] and [[selenography|selenographer]].

==Biography==
König was born in [[Vienna]] and received his technical education in [[Leipzig]]. He was the son of Georg König, a fur businessman. While he worked for his father's fur business, he attended lectures at the University of Vienna and acquired astronomical knowledge. König and his wife Josefine Antonie König had two children.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

===Private observatory===
[[File:Štefánik Observatory Zeiss Refractor.jpg|thumb|Štefánik Observatory Zeiss Refractor]]
As he had an interest in astronomy, in 1906 he built a private observatory in Vienna, on the top of his house, 12 Kuppelwiesergasse. The instrument was designed for astrophotography and consisted of Carl Zeiss’ 18 cm and 21 cm diameter double refactors on an equatorial mount. From his observatory, he observed the crater [[König (crater)|König]] named after him and completed his study for his deceased friend, the draftsman, and selenographer, [[Johann Nepomuk Krieger|Johann Kreiger]]. In 1929, after König's death, his widow sold the telescope to the “Bohemian Astronomical Society” to build a public observatory in Prague. The observatory is now operated by the [[Štefánik's Observatory|Stefanik Observatory]] in Prague. The [[Vienna Observatory]] houses his specialist library, as well as other astronomical instruments.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

=== Study for Kreiger’s publication ===
König was a friend of [[Johann Nepomuk Krieger|Johann Krieger]] as well as the co-editor of Kreiger's ''Mond Atlas''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=t-BF1CHkc50C Trimble, Virginia, and Katherine Bracher. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers]. New York: Springer, 2006, pp 658. Internet resource.</ref> After Krieger's death, he left mass unorganized descriptions and sketches of the Moon observation. König then spent two years’ observation on his observatory, and within five years arranged two Krieger's volumes including his reproduction drawing and sketches, and requisite letterpress.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=MUYiAQAAIAAJ “Popular Astronomy.”] Edited by Herbert C.1912Print p10.</ref> In 1912. König published a volume of [[Johann Nepomuk Krieger|Johann Krieger]]’s illustrations of the Moon.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
*Štefánikova hvězdárna - Hvězdárna a planetárium hl. m. Prahy, Stefanik Observatory, Prague – [http://www.observatory.cz/english.html Website in English]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Konig, Rudolf}}
[[Category:1865 births]]
[[Category:1927 deaths]]
[[Category:Scientists from Vienna]]
[[Category:19th-century Austrian astronomers]]
[[Category:Austrian merchants]]
[[Category:20th-century Austrian astronomers]]
[[Category:Astronomers from Austria-Hungary]]
[[Category:Expatriates in the German Empire]]
[[Category:Expatriates from Austria-Hungary in Germany]]
{{Austria-scientist-stub}}
{{Europe-astronomer-stub}}