Topographic Maps

Topographic maps depict the visible phenomena of the earth's surface as accurately as possible according to their position in the ground plan. This is achieved by contour lines, pinnacles (peaks), water courses, roads and rail lines.

Topographic maps of Bavaria have existed since the sixteenth century. The first printed map of Bavaria - and at the same time the first printed regional map of Germany (Mapp. XI, 24 xbb) - was created by the Bavarian historian Johannes Aventinus (1477-1535) as a supplement to his "Annales Ducum Boiariae", which later became the Bavarian Chronicle. The map printed in 1523 is not preserved in the original. However, there is a facsimile created in 1899 at the suggestion of the Münchner Geographischen Gesellschaft (Munich Geographical Society). The map "Boiorum Regni Una Cum Comitatibus Suis Descriptio" created by Wolfgang Lazius (1514-1565) in 1561, which appeared in the first atlas of the German-Austrian hereditary lands, was based on Aventine's map. Lazius was physician, geographer and cartographer of Emperor Ferdinand I.

Philipp Apian created the first map of Bavaria based on precise survey of the country. The "Bairische Landtaflen" (Bavarian Maps) were created in 1568 from a 6 x 6 meter wall map, which Duke Albrecht V had had made for his court library.

The atlases of the Baroque period contain numerous maps of Bavaria. The maps of Gustav Wenz and Franz L. Güssefeld are also worth mentioning.

Multi-part "Topographic Maps" available on bavarikon

The other part collections of "Maps and Plans from the holdings of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek" available on bavarikon

>> This collection is part of the holdings of "Maps and Plans from the Holdings of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek" (Bavarian State Library).