Career
A native of Nuremberg, Wurzelbauer was a merchant who became an astronomer. As a youth, he was keenly interested in mathematics and astronomy but had been forced to earn his living as a merchant. He first published a work concerning his observations on the great comet of 1680, and initially began his work at a private castle-observatory on Spitzenberg 4 owned by Georg Christoph Eimmart (completely destroyed during World World War II), the director of Nuremberg"s painters" academy.
Wurzelbauer was 64 when he began this second career, but proved himself to be an able assistant to Eimmart.
A large quadrant from his days at Eimmart"s observatory still survives. After 1682, Wurzelbauer owned his own astronomical observatory and instruments, and observed the transit of Mercury, solar eclipses, and worked out the geographical latitude of his native city.
After 1683, he had withdrawn himself completely from business life to dedicate himself to astronomy. By 1700, Wurzelbauer had become the most well-known astronomer in Nuremberg.
Foreign his services to the field of astronomy, he was ennobled in 1692 by Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and added the von to his name.
The crater Wurzelbauer on the Moon is named after him.