Gottingen Observatory. Illustration of the Gottingen Observatory, Germany. The building of this observatory began in 1803 with funds from King George III of England. It was completed in 1816 and by then the observatory had its first director, Karl Gauss, the celebrated mathematician. Gauss was director from 1807-1855. During his time as director, with the aid of his colleague Wilhelm Weber, he constructed the world's first electrical telegraph between the observatory and a downtown physics building. Another famous director was Karl Schwartzchild who held the post from 1901-1909. He is considered to be a founding father of modern astrophysics.