Fraunhofer-Teleskop, Research telescope at Wendelstein Observatory, Germany.

The Fraunhofer Telescope is a research instrument with a 2-meter mirror operated at Wendelstein Observatory at 1,838 meters elevation. It combines optical observations with infrared imaging and serves as a modern tool for astronomical research.

The telescope was designed starting in 2008 and officially put into operation in 2012, becoming part of the observatory's modern equipment. It continues a long Bavarian history of optical research established by Fraunhofer's work in the 19th century.

The telescope is named after Joseph von Fraunhofer, the Bavarian optician and physicist who died in 1826; his name also appears on the Fraunhofer Society and on the Fraunhofer lines in the solar spectrum. The instrument stands on the 1,838-metre summit of the Wendelstein, where the Munich University Observatory has operated since the 1960s.

The telescope sits on the Wendelstein summit at 1,838 m and is a working research instrument of the Universitäts-Sternwarte München, not open to visitors; the summit itself is reached by cable car or cog railway. Access to the dome and the 2 m mirror is limited to the observatory team.

The instrument can switch between two different observation stations that are automatically selectable and allow different research projects. This flexibility enables quick changes between different types of sky observation without needing to reorient the equipment.