The Pardubice patriot, designer and populariser of science Baron Artur Kraus was a prominent figure in Pardubice at the turn of the century. He was the founder and a member of many associations, the promoter of technical inventions, the colleague and patron of the aviator Jan Kašpar and, last but not least, an astronomer, who built the first public observatory in the country, used to popularize astronomy and for actual scientific observations.

There have been few people as interesting as Baron Artur Kraus, a man of many talents and interests. This Pardubice patriot came from the wealthy family of the entrepreneur Josef Kraus. Besides his riches, he also inherited his aristocratic title, but rather than pursuing business ambitions or the vain life of a nobleman, he devoted his entire life to science and popularising it. He studied under the French astronomer Flamarion. After returning to Bohemia he became a passionate believer in science and technical progress. He established several associations and organisations in his home town of Pardubice, for instance he became a member of the Velocipede Society and was one of the firsts cyclists in the country. He was also apparently the first Czech owner of a motorcycle, which he had brought over from Germany, and one of the first skiers, and, on skis ordered from Norway, he and his friends used to go downhill skiing around Harrachov. Besides these hobbies, Baron Kraus was also a great aviation pioneer. Inspired by his friend, the German aviator Otto Lilienthal, he studied the anatomy and flight of birds and created a construction of heavier-than-air flying machines. However, none of the several versions of his “ornithopter”, as he called it, ever got into the air, so he decided to switch his attention to a couple of gifted young designers, Jan Kašpar and Evžen Čihák. He became a close friend of Kašpar’s, as well as his patron and the organiser of his first flights. It was thanks to this connection with the first Czech airman that he eventually saw his dream of constructing a flying machine come true. His other great passion was astronomy, which he promoted amongst the lay public in Pardubice and elsewhere through his popular talks, publications and teaching programs. He built a public observatory, which he kitted out with what at that time was a very powerful telescope, mostly used to observe solar phenomena. He organised events for the public and devoted himself to making astronomical observations until his death in 1930.

Connected places: Baron Artur Kraus’s ObservatoryHvězdárna barona Artura Krause

Keywords: astronomy; astronomy; popularization; designer; flying; observatory