Johannes Kepler monument. Artwork of the monument and statue to the German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), erected in his birthplace of Weil der Stadt, Germany. This monument, by the sculptor August Kreling, was erected in 1870. The smaller statues around the base are of the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (at front), the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, Kepler's teacher Michael Mastlin, and the Swiss astronomical instrument maker Jost Burgi. Kepler supported the Copernican system and worked closely with Brahe and Burgi on work that led to the three fundamental laws of planetary motion.