APPENDIX

STATE OF THE ART

The Neuchâtel Observatory has never been the object of a historical exhibition. However, several clocks, instruments and documents are presented in the horological museums of the Neuchâtel region. In 1974, when the Musée international d'horlogerie of La Chaux-de-Fonds (MIH) was opened, the director of the Observatory, Jacques Bonanomi, donated the meridian telescope and several clocks to the institution, which exhibits them in the permanent exhibition. After the Observatory closure in 2007, its collections were transferred to the museum’s deposits for conservation, at the request of the State of Neuchâtel, owner of the Observatory. The history and the instruments of the Observatory have interested several institutions in the Neuchâtel region and here are some examples: – In September 2018, a four-year research project funded by the Swiss National Science

Foundation started in the University of Neuchâtel with three students (Amandine

Cabrio, Julien Gressot, Romain Jeanneret). – In 2015, HE-ARC Conservation-Restoration students defined an instrument conservation protocol and analyzed the operation of the meridian telescope (Degrigny et al., 2016). – In 2003, Virginie Babey, student in the University of Neuchâtel, made an inventory of the Observatory scientific objects and developed an exhibition concept. The

Observatory closed in 2007 and her project was therefore abandoned (Babey, 2003). The Neuchâtel State Archives and the Neuchâtel Public Library preserve the paper archives of the Observatory, like the directors’ reports, their correspondence, etc. Films and interviews can be found in the archives of SRG SSR, Memoriav and the Public Library in La Chaux-de-Fonds (see Archive sources). There are several books on the history of the observatory and watchmaking in my bibliography. I have produced a documentation on various exhibitions that I have visited and resources on curatorial research, scenographers,… Visit the “Exhibitions design” section in my blog for more details. I also studied how some of the museums in the region, run by associations, functioned in order to find out about entrance fees, the opening schedule, the number of visitors, how they were financed, etc. My research also focused on the broad topic of time (history, astronomy, art, exhibitions, etc.). See the references in my bibliography and the general page "What is time?" in my blog.

Meridian telescope of the Neuchâtel Observatory, displayed in the permanent exhibition of the MIH

High-precision electric clock Leroy & Cie of the Neuchâtel Observatory, displayed in the permanent exhibition of the MIH

“The Neuchâtel government will allocate the fortune I leave to it [...] entirely to the enlargement and development of the Observatory and mainly to the acquisition of a large equatorial telescope with an objective of about twelve inches of aperture, equipped with a precision micrometer, as well as a spectroscope and other auxiliary equipment. This large telescope will be installed in a tower with a dome that will be built on the observatory grounds.”

Extract from the will of Adolphe Hirsch, first director of the Neuchâtel Observatory

First page of the will of Adolphe Hirsch © Neuchâtel State Archives

Adolphe Hirsch, director of the Neuchâtel Observatory from 1858 to 1901 © Neuchâtel State Archives

“What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain to him who asks, I do not know.”

Saint Augustine, The confessions, Book XI, chapter XIV

Hermann Stroele, assistant astronomer to the 2nd director, Louis Arndt, 1910 © Pierre-René Beljean