 Major projects included the renewal of the main hall's roof and the replacement of the outdated dome.In contrast to his predecessor, Klinkerfues, Schur was very successful in modernizing the inadequate equipment of the observatory, acquiring a new, large Repsold heliometer in 1888.He also, with the help of an assistant, catalogued and organised over 11,000 books and brochures in the observatory's library over a period of a year and a half, finishing in 1899.