Bernard Walther

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Bernard Walther

1430-1504

German astronomer who was one of the first to use weight-driven clocks. Walther was a patron of Johann Müller Regiomontanus (1436-1476), and contributed funds toward the building of the latter's observatory in Nuremberg in 1471. After Regiomontanus's death in 1476, Walther continued his associate's work in measuring star positions. He first made use of the weight-driven clock in 1484.