Eise Eisinga Planetarium — Attraction in Waadhoeke

Museum is located in 3 houses. One is original house with the planetarium another brasserie in art nouveau style and the third one is the house with entrance to the museum. The museum has several rooms restored including room with the planetarium. The other rooms house the excebition of clocks telescopes, sextants and other astronomical instruments made by local masters from Franeker in the period of 18th century. The planetarium, which is one of the first in the world takes 2 rooms one above another. It still works!!! The excursion is provided in Dutch and sometimes in English. Place is very popular after being awarded UNESCO heritage. The temporary excebition shows marvel of 18th century consisting of 2 mini planetariums, clocks all in one piece of furniture. Haven't seen anything like this before. The Museum is absolutely worth visiting. Reserve 1 or more hours. Most of the rooms including planetarium are accessible by ♿. Many thanks to the staff who does excellent job by preserving and presenting this...

This is an amazing visit for anyone with an interest in science or history. I was fascinated by the personal stories not just of Eise Eisinga, but of other local folk who applied their craftsmanship to creating beautiful astronomical instruments and who, with limited education, made significant contributions to math and astronomy. Franeker itself is pretty amazing. It used to be Holland's 2nd most important university town - so the local amateurs were working directly with professors - and the town has labeled many buildings with QR codes, allowing you to hear historical details. The planetarium museum is housed in 3 historic houses and includes details of family life and Eisinga's wool combing business. Well...

The Royal Planetarium in the town of Franeker is the oldest functioning planetarium in the world. The facility is almost 250 years old. The creator of the remarkable facility is Eise Eisinga, who is a wool trader and amateur astronomer. For 7 years, he himself built a model of the planetarium in his home. The device is driven by wooden discs and numerous iron pins. It is controlled by a pendulum clock. The reason Eising built the planetarium was to disprove a prophecy that several planets would collide and cause the end of the world. Now his house has been turned into a museum, and his creation is still in full...