bavarikon4UCity views of Eichstätt
The city views are part of the Universitätsbibliothek Eichstätt-Ingolstadt's (Eichstätt-Ingolstadt University Library) graphic art collection. This collection comprises around 100,000 sheets. It did not evolve systematically but came from various owners, including the Episcopal Seminary Eichstätt, and was first consolidated at the university library. The collection is accordingly very diverse in terms of subjects, techniques and the period when the objects were created.
The collection contains the largest collection of old city views of Eichstätt housed by a public institution. 59 of these representations are shown here. Images are presented that depict Eichstätt as a whole or to a large extent. All objects are available as single sheets, views in books or on maps are not represented.
The depictions date from a period of more than 400 years. At the beginning there are woodcuts from Hartmann Schedel's famous "world chronicle" (GS(4)3.1.27 and GS(4)3.1.32), which were probably made by Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff in Nuremberg and printed in 1493. The most recent view was produced around 1915. It shows a view over the Altmühl to Eichstätt city centre with the town hall tower and was drawn by the artist Erich Erler. Most of the views presented, however, belong to the field of printmaking. An etching made by Wolfgang Kilian in 1628 which shows Eichstätt from the south-east is remarkable due to its approx. 40 x 104 cm format. An 18th century depiction of the city also shows a special context: It is located on a trade certificate, a journeyman's report, for an Eichstätt butcher.
As usual, the early views in particular do not provide a realistic picture of the city: buildings are often depicted that are not actually visible from the viewer's perspective, or striking buildings are turned with their visible sides facing the viewer. Extremely large buildings, namely the cathedral, are often reproduced in smaller form. Also, views that appeared in the decades after the Thirty Years' War often still show the appearance of the medieval city.
>> This collection is part of the holdings of the Universitätsbibliothek Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.