1960 - 1984
Founded and operated by the Universitäts-Sternwarte Göttingen (USWG), Germany.
1984
The USWG leaves Locarno and transfers its observations to Tenerife (Canary Islands). The instrumentation of Locarno is largely used for the new telescope. Agreement between the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the private association AIRSOL, Associazione Istituto Ricerche Solari Locarno, to sell the institute.
1987
FIRSOL, Fondazione Istituto Ricerche Solari Locarno, a private foundation takes over the observatory.
1988 - 1992
The instrumentation is reconstructed and updated (new electronics, new grating). The technical collaboration with the Fachhochschule Wiesbaden (FHSW) allows to improve the automatization.
1993 - 1995
The new instrumentation allows to restart research programs.
1996 ->
Research and collaborations with other institutes, principally with the ETH-Zurich.
1998 ->
The polarimeter ZIMPOL, developed at the ETHZ, is operated in Locarno.