A spatially scanning, combined vacuum‐ultraviolet (VUV) and visible range spectrometer system for the spectroscopy of tokamak plasmas in the ASDEX‐Upgrade experiment is described. This system is designed to allow flexible observation of about 2/3 of the boundary plasma using VUV (30–200 nm) and visible range spectrometers viewing along a common line of sight which can be scanned during the plasma discharge by means of a rotatable mirror. From successive spectra recorded using intensified, multichannel photodiode detectors and the recorded position data, spatial profiles of the plasma emission can be reconstructed. Because radiation losses from the boundary plasma can largely be attributed to line emission in the VUV spectral region, this instrument finds application in quantitative studies of radiation loss processes as well as to studies of impurity production and transport. Simultaneous observation in the visible spectral range facilitates aninsituabsolute calibration of the VUV instrument by means of the ‘‘branching‐ratios’’ technique. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.