Zeiss Major Planetarium
The Zeiss Major Planetarium is a planetarium in Berlin and one of the largest modern stellar theatres in Europe. It was opened in 1987 on the borders of the Ernst-Thälmann-Park housing estates in the Prenzlauer Berg locality of Berlin.
Planning for the area commenced with old gas works to be torn down by 1981. The 750 anniversary of Berlin gave an opportunity to the communist government to create a new style of housing estates with decorative high-rise residential buildings, a cultural centre with restaurants and a planetarium supposed to be larger than the old one in the Archenhold Observatory of Berlin. The building from architect Erhardt Gißke was opened on schedule on 9 October 1987. The dome of the main hall has a diameter of and it is currently equipped with a Universarium IX planetarium projector from Carl Zeiss AG.
The building is not only used for astronomy shows but the dome hall with 292 seats allows also for music concerts and audio drama with the regular "audio theatre under a starry sky" running since 1995. There is also a café and a movie theatre with 160 seats. The dome hall has not only a planetarium projector but as much as 100 slide projectors, a laser show installation and sound equipment including a recording studio to create new shows. The planetarium has 90,000 visitors every year.
