Sternenwächter

Many professions have stereotypical dresses that make them instantly recognizable. Doctors have a lab coat and a stethoscope, fireman have a yellow hard hat, and so on. However, many of these stereotypes change over time, to the point where the old ones are no longer recognizable. The wizard-like robes and pointy hat of the astronomer is one such getup. 

The Sternenwächter, or the Astronomer, is a statue that was built by Christine Gersch in 2005 on a small square in Berlin that was named after the 18th-century astronomer Caroline Herschel. She is known for her many discoveries, star catalogs, and for being the first female scientist to get a salary for her work. (She and her brother William’s former home in England is now the Herschel Museum of Astronomy.)

The statue represents an old depiction of an astronomer, who walks around with blue robes and a pointy hat.