The Erasmus+ project group of the Jakob-Fugger-Gymnasium Augsburg visited the Meteorological Observatory Hohenpeissenberg in July 2025. A perfect closing event for the very sucessful project year. In the frame of the schools project day the group had a very special guided tour through the oldest meteorological observatory at Hohenpeissenberg is the world’s oldest mountain observatory. Situated 80km southeast of Augsburg, in the foothills of the alps, continuous meteorological measurements have been performed since 1781. The Observatory is also part of the Global Atmospheric Watch programme (GAW) as well as a Climate Reference Point of the German weather network. Additionally the Observatory supports the Environmental Research Station “Schneefernerhaus” 300m below the summit of Zugspitze, the project group visited last year. The research radar is providing reliable weather forecast and emergency alerts.
The Erasmus project group of the Jakob Fugger Gymnasium Augsburg traveled by train to Hohenpeißenberg, of course, in an environmentally friendly manner. After arriving at the train station, the first item on the agenda was a short mountain hike, which served as a warm-up exercise for the experienced hikers in the group. At the summit, the group was welcomed by Herrn Dr. Steinbrecht who works there as a scientist. He explained the historical background of the observatory and discussed its various measurement tasks.
A rare glimpse into the analysis laboratories clearly showed how air is analyzed and how additional measurement data is published. The statistics once again showed that the man-made greenhouse effect is measurable and verifiable.
After two hours of exciting guided tours and a snack break, the group returned to the valley and Augsburg with a clear view of the surrounding mountains. All in all, it was the perfect ending to the 2024/25 project year. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the DWD and the on-site staff.
