On a hill at the edge of Uppsala stands #hällby Observatory, a place where Bronze Age history, space science and art exist side by side. Established in 1962, Hällby became an important centre for #geodesy, the science of measuring the Earth. Under Professor Erik Tengström, one of Sweden’s pioneers in modern geodesy, researchers used satellites to study the shape, movements and position of our planet with remarkable precision. This was not an observatory searching for distant galaxies. Its focus was Earth itself. The measurements made here contributed to the scientific foundations behind modern mapping, surveying and satellite positioning. After the observatory’s research era ended in 2001, the buildings gained a new life as artists’ studios. Today, sculptures and unusual installations surround the former scientific site. The hill itself has a much older story. A Bronze Age burial site shows that people valued this location thousands of years before satellites entered the sky. A GNSS station still operates here today, continuing the connection between this small hill in Uppsala and the wider world of space technology. From ancient graves to satellite measurements, Hällby is a place where humanity’s changing ways of understanding the world can be seen in one landscape.
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