The observatory in Úpice does not have a long history, as it was built only after the Second World War, but its importance in the region for the popularization of astronomy and scientific research is great. The observatory began its history in 1952 as an astronomy hobby club organised by Vladimír Mlejnek. Seven years later it became a regular public observatory with the aim of popularizing astronomy while at the same time carrying out its own observations and meteorological measurements. In the 1960s, for example, the observatory managed to capture the passage of space rockets to the Moon, occultations of stars and many solar phenomena. It was the observation of the Sun that eventually made the observatory famous professionally. Since the mid-1960s, the observations here began to focus on solar phenomena and on the Sun in various spectra. They first looked at the Sun in optical spectra, later in the radio spectrum and with the help of X-rays. In addition to its regular observations, the observatory became famous in 1969 for an unexpected situation, when it detected a meteorite fall in Suchý Důl near Police. The observatory staff found the meteorite and, with the help of the laboratory in Heidelberg, managed to analyse it as the first meteorite ever using new radioisotope methods, which at that time were used to examine, for example, samples of lunar dust.
Over time, the observatory also expanded its popularization activities. Today, the observatory runs astronomy clubs in several nearby towns, clubs for school children and excursions and observations for the public.
