ZEISS Planetariums

07/05/2026

Happy International Day of Planetariums!
This day marks the anniversary of the world's first public planetarium projection. On May 7, 1925, the Zeiss Planetarium at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany, officially opened its doors, bringing the starry sky indoors.

(Image: Deutsches Museum Munich)

18/04/2026

The annual conference of the Society of German-Speaking Planetariums (GDP) opened today at Kiel University of Applied Sciences (HAW) and brings together planetarium professionals from across the German-speaking countries to exchange ideas. The event features lectures, workshops, and fulldome productions. ZEISS Planetariums is participating as a sponsor this year and is using the opportunity, among other things, to host a user meeting for its UNIVIEW software.

12/02/2026

ZEISS Planetariums is currently running a workshop on astronomical content and visualization. We welcome Dan Tell from Tau Immersive to Jena, who is inspiring with fascinating contributions and presentations over a total of three days.

09/12/2025

With APAS, an exciting conference year is drawing to a close. The new head of the Planetarium Business Unit, Dr. Nicole Nelles (photo 1, right), and the sales manager responsible, Stefanie Wüstenhagen (photo 1, left), took this opportunity to familiarize themselves with the regional characteristics and needs of planetariums, together with the South American representative Luiz Sampaio (photo 1, center) from Omnis Lux.

We wish everyone a pleasant end of the year and a good start to an exciting new planetarium year.

20/11/2025

Martin Kraus is celebrating his upcoming retirement today! He has been with ZEISS for 39 years, most recently in his role as Head of the Planetariums business unit for almost the past eight years. At the end of this month, he will hand over responsibility to his successor, Dr. Nicole Nelles.
The entire team of ZEISS Planetariums wishes him all the best for the future, which will certainly continue to be connected to planetariums in many ways.

(From right to left: Dr. Nicole Nelles, Martin Kraus, and Oliver Luft, Head of ZEISS Photonics and BSFs Photonics & Optics)

10/11/2025

Join our webinar on the use of UNIVIEW in planetariums of all types and sizes on November 19 at 2 p.m. (CET).

https://rebrand.ly/ZEISSUniview

21/10/2025

Happy birthday Model I!
On this day 102 years ago, the Zeiss Planetarium - later designated Model I - was unveiled to the museum advisory board and the public for the first time at the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
It displayed 4,500 stars, the Milky Way, the names of important constellations, as well as the sun, moon, and planets visible to the naked eye. The daily rotation was possible in three speed settings, as was the movement of the wandering stars over the course of a year. The precessional rotation was also already integrated. The first planetarium projector was limited to the local polar altitude of Munich.

(The images show a historical photograph of Model I from Zeiss archives, as well as a modern interpretation of the model as a linocut print.)

10/10/2025

We’re here in St. Paul, MN with our partners at ZEISS, sharing the latest in planetarium innovation—including our 5m SeilerDome.

📍 Find us in The Bell Museum’s McMillan Planetarium, Delta Hotel Minneapolis Northeast.
🎤 ZEISS and Seiler are each giving two 10-minute presentations this evening!

📸 From left to right: Martin Kraus, Louise Schaper, Nicole Nelles, Howard George

26/09/2025

Greetings from the BAP Conference 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne. For two days (today and tomorrow), news, innovations, and familiar topics from the world of (British) planetariums will be discussed and shared.
We are delighted to be here and welcome you to visit our booth with any questions or just to say hello.
We look forward to seeing you!

11/09/2025

Meet ZEISS Planetariums at the NPA Conference, which is taking place today and tomorrow in Tartu, Estonia. Visit us at our booth or simply come and talk to us. We look forward to getting in touch with you.

03/09/2025

Happy birthday!

On September 1, 2004, The University of Michigan opened the Angell Hall Planetarium with a ZKP3.

A lot has changed over the last 21 years; but the starfield hasn't.

Happy 21st Birthday to ZEISS Planetarium #576!