25 needs of a geodetic teaching institution, it was a significant improvement compared to the old location at Antonsplatz. In 1888, in addition to his duties as a professor, Nagel was also entrusted with running the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon in the Zwinger, a dual responsibility that had already been shouldered by Lohrmann and that was to continue until the end of the 1930s. After a busy working life, he retired in 1893. His activities in land surveying and the firm establishment of geodesy in the technical sciences remain Nagel’s most outstanding achievements. In 1890, still during Nagel’s tenure, the Polytechnic was granted the status of a Technical College. Space in the building at Bismarckplatz soon became too confined for the constantly developing and growing institution. It was then, at the beginning of the 20th century, that the first new buildings were erected on the present campus area in Dresden’s Südvorstadt. In 1913, during the tenure of Nagel’s successor, Professor Bernhard Pattenhausen, the Geodetic Institute moved into new, more modern premises on the second floor of the newly-erected civil engineering building, today’s Beyer Building. This meant that the building − designed by architect Martin Dülfer − with its distinctive 40 meter-high observatory tower also became the new home of the instrument collection. Facing in the direction of today’s Fritz-Foerster-Platz, room 155 was earmarked as the geodesy collection room. Here, the valuable instruments were kept in purpose-built display cabinets, three of which have been preserved in their original condition to this day. The collection room also had direct access to the neighboring lecture theatre (room 154), where geodesy lectures were held at the time (Pattenhausen 1914). The connecting door still exists today, although it is no longer in use. The former collection site, room 155, is now divided into several small rooms that are used as offices. Unfortunately, the new institute building remained unfinished. An entire stage of construction along Bergstraße was not completed. Also, the location of the building in the middle of a built-up area constituted only a compromise solution as far as astronomical and geodetic observations were concerned. Pattenhausen’s wish for an institute building on the ridge to the south of the campus was not granted. Nevertheless, the new premises again meant a considerable improvement in working conditions and provided modern and spacious accommodation for the instrument collection. A number of modern instruments Wilhelm Gotthelf Lohrmann (1796 – 1840), painting by Johann Carl Rößler, around 1830 (TUD Art Collection) The geodesist and astronomer was co-founder and first head of the Technical School and senior inspector of the Mathematisch Physikalischer Salon. Christian August Nagel (1821–1903) at the Repsold Universal Instrument; painting by an unknown artist, undated (private collection) Nagel worked at the Geodetic Institute for more than four decades and once and for all developed geodesy into a modern engineering science.
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