The Süring House

The brick building with its crenellated tower, originally called the "Royal Prussian Meteorological Observatory," was constructed between 1890 and 1893. It is currently used by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the German Meteorological Service (DWD). A meteorological measuring field is located on the tower. In most of the building, scientists study the effects of climate change. The Süring House is named after Reinhard Süring, the former director of the Meteorological Observatory. In 1901, he and Arthur Berson set a balloon altitude record of 10,800 meters. During this ascent, they were able to determine that air temperature begins to rise again above approximately 8000 meters. The transition between the troposphere and stratosphere had been discovered.