 The institute has one solar telescope on the Schauinsland Mountain near Freiburg and, in collaboration with other institutions, uses solar telescopes of the Teide Observatory in Tenerife, Spain.The Institute was founded in 1943 as the 'Fraunhofer Institute' by Karl-Otto Kiepenheuer.Kiepenheuer was director of the Institute from 1943 until his death in 1975.