 It was already discovered 26 years earlier as by German astronomer Max Wolf at Heidelberg Observatory in March 1904, who observed it for a short time during the discovery opposition before it became lost.Only decades later, in 1958, it was shown by French astronomer André Patry that both asteroid's discovered by Wolf and Arend were one and the same ().It was then decided that this asteroid retains the number–name designation "1171 Rusthawelia", while 525 Adelaide was vacated and given to another asteroid (which was the object , discovered by Joel Hastings Metcalf).