Tycho, and he urged upon the Danish King Frederick that he should make suitable provision for the further astronomical studies of his distinguished subject, which suggestion the King generously met. In the year 1575 the documents were signed and sealed granting to Tycho full possession for life of the little Island of Hveen, lying between Seeland and Schonen; in addition he was furnished with all the means necessary for the erection of an observatory and the adequate equipment of the same (Fig. 76). The Uranienburg, as his observatory was called,[355] became a great center for astronomical studies, and students came to him from various European lands, among these being Arnold van Langren, Willem Jansz. Blaeu, and Longomontanus (Christian Severin of Longberg). The death of his patron, King Frederick II, in the year 1588 brought misfortune to Tycho, in so far as his life and studies on the Island of Hveen were concerned, since the succeeding ruler, Christian IV, was but little interested in the further promotion of astronomical science. Enduring court intrigue for nine years, he determined, in the year 1597, to leave the scenes of his remarkable successes, and after a brief sojourn with Count Henry of Ranzau near Hamburg, he accepted an invitation from the Emperor Rudolf II to become imperial astronomer and counselor at Prague. Thither he went with his family in the year 1599, at the same time taking with him those astronomical instruments which had served him in his studies in the northern island home. While preparations were under way for the erection of a new observatory for him he died in the year 1601. From Tycho’s heirs the Emperor Rudolf purchased his instruments and manuscripts, the latter passing into the hands of Kepler, his successor at the Imperial Court, but as to the fate of his instruments little seems to be known. Kästner tells us that in 1619, during an uprising in the city of Prague, some of these were destroyed while others were carried away, and at present only an iron quadrant, once in his observatory, remains in that city. [Illustration: Fig. 75. Portrait of Tycho Brahe.] [Illustration: Fig. 76. Interior of Tycho Brahe’s Observatory at Uranienburg.] His large brass celestial globe, six feet in diameter, was carried back to Copenhagen in the year 1623 by King Christian’s son, Ulrich, and there it was carefully kept until the year 1728, when with the castle in which it had been placed it was destroyed by fire. Recalling the far-reaching influence of Tycho Brahe on astronomical studies and on celestial globe making, it cannot be without interest to quote here his own reference to his great globe, wherein he describes its construction.