1664:  A monumental artwork of a giant astronomical device is the Globe of Gottorp. It is a hollow ball of 3.1 meters in diameter and was built between 1654 and 1664 on request of Frederick III (1597-1659), Duke of Holstein-Gottorp in Northern Germany. The inside of the globe was artistically ornamented with the mythological figures of star constellations, while the outside exhibited the continents of the Earth. The globe could rotate once in 24 hours, probably driven by a water mill. A hatch gave access to the interior, where up to ten persons could take a seat. They witnessed the simulation of the moving starry sky alike in a planetarium. The globe was put in a so-called Globe House in the garden of the Duke's palace to amuse his guests.

The Globe of Gottorp faced an exciting history. As the work progressed, several interruptions were due to wars and the death of the Duke in 1659. After its completion 1664, it found its location in the extra-built Globe House. In the year 1713, the Danish king Frederik IV. (1671-1730) occupied the Dukedom Gottorp, as he established a military alliance with Russia and Saxony against Sweden. The Russian Czar Peter the Great (1672-1725) visited Denmark and was fascinated by the globe. The Danish king gave it to him as a present. The globe took a travel of four years till it reached St. Petersburg in 1717. There, it found its permanent location in the Art's Chamber. Unfortunately, a fire destroyed the globe almost completely in 1747; only the skeleton of metal remained. In the same year, the Czarina Elisabeth (1709-1761) ordered its restauration. Here, the better knowledge of geography were accounted for the painted continents. During World War II, German troops confiscated the globe in 1942 and brought it to Gottorp. After the War, the British acquired it and gave it back to Leningrad, where it still is. German charitable foundations agreed to build a near-replica of the globe in the 1990's, but this time in steel, with electric motors and lights. That copy is installed at Gottorp Castle.