NPA Conference 2021 from October 29th to 31st in Lübeck, Germany

From October 29th to 31st the NPA conference 2021 was successfully held in the beautiful city of Lübeck (https://www.visit-luebeck.com), Germany’s most extensive UNESCO World Heritage Site (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lübeck).

The Observatory Lübeck (in German: »Sternwarte Lübeck«) was happy to welcome the NPA members, in collaboration with the »Sternkammer« – the worlds first school planetarium, opened 1931 at the former „Klosterhofschule“-school in Lübeck (now: »Grund- und Gemeinschaftsschule St. Jürgen (GGS)«, recently modernized with a digital fulldome system.

Having a NPA meeting in Lübeck was a great chance to network in the historic spirit of the Hanseatic League between Lübeck and the Nordic and Baltic countries, and networking with astronomy and planetariums.

In 2021, the primary school and college with its historic planetarium was celebrating its 90th anniversary. It has been expanded with a modern building and its Campus was the main conference location. Also in 2021, the observatory reopened with a new observation tower in a new location after 5 years of renovation.

In spite of the pandemic, attendees from nearly all NPA countries as well as members of the GDP (Society of German-speaking Planetariums) travelled to Lübeck and made the conference the biggest NPA gathering so far. It was the first time that a NPA conference took place outside the Nordic and Baltic countries – in Germany, connecting two big European Planetarium Associations.

Thank you for joining us in Lübeck – it was a huge honor and pleasure hosting the conference and having you as our guests! We are looking forward to seeing you all again in 2023. Please check the NPA Facebook page for updates, where the next conference host will be announced as soon as possible: https://www.facebook.com/Nordicplaneteriumassociation

On behalf of the organizing committee,

Ralph Heinsohn, Kai Santavuori and Aase Roland Jacobsen

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The conference has been made possible with support from our partner, the Possehl foundation Lübeck.