GEOlympics

Where does a district begin and where does it end? Where can a new road be built? How high is the Schlossberg (castle hill) and how steep is the incline when you walk onto Cannon Square? Geodesy answers these and many other questions. This is the science of measuring and mapping the earth's surface. Anyone who has ever held a map, a building plan or a city map in their hands has geodesy to thank for it.

The eighth Geodesy Action Week is taking place in Baden-Württemberg in July. Under the motto "Fascination Earth - Your Future", geodesists, i.e. surveying specialists, will be demonstrating throughout the state what they do for society and what their profession has to offer. They want to attract young people to the geodetic professions with over a hundred activities across the country. The action week includes guided tours, height measurements of mountains and buildings, geocaching tours, city exploration games, surveying courses, exhibitions, teaching units and information stands.

The municipal surveying office invites school classes to the "GEOlympics" day of action in Eschholz park. At several stations, teams of three to four pupils or trainees can measure, estimate, calculate and solve small tasks on the topic. Historical and modern measuring methods will help them. For example, they can stake out the 48th degree of latitude, estimate and remeasure heights and distances, stake out distances with a GPS device or cross disc, measure distances indirectly with a tachymeter and angle functions and much more. There will also be lots of information about the profession and training in surveying technology. The event is organized by the municipal surveying office, the surveying department of the Friedrich Weinbrenner vocational school and the first-year apprentices.

Information is available from Bianca Burgert at the Surveying Office: Tel. 0761 / 201-4210 or at vermessungsamt@stadt.freiburg.de.