The Armillary Sphere

This unusual metal sculpture looks as if it belongs in an observatory: a large armillary sphere. It pays tribute to a somewhat forgotten but fascinating scholar from Ljubljana, Augustin Ferdinand Hallerstein. Born in 1703, he was a Jesuit, an astronomer, and a mathematician, whose life took him far from here, all the way to Beijing, where he became director of the Imperial Observatory of China. It was there that he designed this remarkable sphere, a unique creation blending European astronomical knowledge with Chinese traditions, an extraordinary meeting of worlds in the 18th century. The replica you see here was installed in 2024 to honor this Slovenian scientist who rose to international prominence and to remind us of Ljubljana’s lasting ties with the wider world.