  In 1953 I heard of an experiment in 1925 by Bengt Str\"omgren where he
observed transit times with the meridian circle at the Copenhagen University
Observatory measuring the current in a photocell behind slits when a star was
crossing. In 1954 just 22 years old I was given the task as a student to make
first test observations with a new meridian circle of the observatory. I became
fascinated by the instrument and by the importance of astrometry for astronomy.
Work at four meridian circles, two in Denmark, one in Hamburg, one in Lund, and
Pierre Lacroute's vision of space astrometry in France had by 1973 created the
foundation for development of the Hipparcos satellite, and Gaia followed. In
2013 I proposed a successor satellite which has gained momentum especially
thanks to the efforts of David Hobbs and it has a good chance to be launched by
ESA about 2045. But 70 years ago, optical astrometry was considered a dying
branch of astronomy, unattractive compared with astrophysics. The following
growth built on the still active interest in astrometry in Europe in those
years and it was supported by ESA, the European Space Agency. This review is
only about astrometry where I was personally involved.
