Archenhold founded the Treptow Observatory that holds his name today.
Friedrich Simon Archenhold was born on 2 October 1861 in Lichtenau, Westphalia. He graduated from Realgymnasium in Lippstadt before entering Friedrich Wilhelm University (Homboldt today) in 1882 and where he and Wilhelm Förster founded the Urania Astronomical Society at the Berlin University Observatory.
The German Democratic Republic issued a commemorative medal set in 1987. All medals have the Zeiss planetarium on one side. The reverses show famous astronomers. One piece of this set displays half left portrait of Archenhold. Above his name, below dates of his birth and death. The medal was made of shiny reflective nickel metal.
Archenhold founded the Treptow Observatory, the telescope was opened to the public at 1 May, 1896. Archenhold was able to attract numerous well-known scientists and researchers for guest lectures at the Observatory. Perhaps the most famous was Albert Einstein who gave his first public lecture on the Theory of Relativity on 2 June 1915.
The building of Treptow Observatory can be seen on a medal that was issued when Halley's Comet returned in 1910. The medalist was Ernst Torff. The astronomically correct image of the obverse was deigned by Archenhold, as it marked above in the inner circle: "NACH DR. F. S. ARCHENHOLD". On the obverse all the perihelion date from transition 240 BC up to 1910, to day precision were indicated. Below the Treptow city's (now part of Berlin) observatory, above the starry sky, in the middle the constellation Orion, several other constellations and names of brighter stars are displayed. In the vertical direction the Milky Way, horizontally the comet's orbit is visible among the stars. The observatory is still operating, just under a new name. It is named to Archenhold Observatory after its founder. On the top of the obverse three rows of text is placed: "DAS · ERSCHEINEN · DES HALLEYSCHEN KOMETEN V· JAHRE 240 V. CHR · B · 1910 N . CHR · IN SEINER · SONNENNÄHE"
The reverse of the medal is decorated with a portrait of Edmund Halley. Date of his birth and death on both sides: 1656 - 1742. Legend: "ZUR · ERINNERUNG · A. D. ERSCHEINEN · HALLEYSCHEN · KOMETEN · 1910 · U. Z. FÖRDERUNG · WISSENSCHAFTLICHER · ARBEITEN · DER · TREPTOW : STERNWARTE * HALLEY · BESIEGTE DIE · KOMETENFURCHT *". The medal was made of both 30 mm and 60 mm diameter.