Historical and topographical maps

The antique maps (those dating from before 1850) include wood-cuts, engravings on copper and steel and lithographs. The “Special Map of South Prussia” from the years 1902-1803 is a typical example of early, precise Prussian topography. This inventory includes atlases from the 18th and early 19th centuries, among them the two map-sets “Regni Poloniae . . .” by Kanter and Glassbach (both from 1770) as well as the set titled “Border Map of the Prussian, Russian and Austrian Monarchies” (1796). Especially noteworthy is the “New Chart of Battle Sites in [21] Leaves” (Nuremburg, 1812) intended to document Napoleon’s Russian campaign.

Maps in series make up the greater part of the collection. Within these, topographical maps are the most extensive subset. They are divided according to country of origin into German and foreign works, and ordered within those divisions according to scale. The inventory of topographical maps in the scale of 1:25,000 completely covers the regions of Poznan, the Neumark, East and West Prussia, Pomerania and parts of Silesia. A number of sheets are available in various stages of completion. Typical of these so-called mess-table sheets is the German army map (1:25,000), of which however the collection includes only a few specimens. Of related interest are items from the “German Map 1:50,000” series. The military edition of this map, which is also available in the collection, includes sections of Russia and northern Europe. The inventory of maps of the German Empire in the scale of 1:100,000 covers the entirety of the former east-Prussian provinces. Also available is the military edition titled “German Army Map 1:100,000”, which covers extensive parts of western Russia. Further cartographic works, especially for the western parts of Russia in the scales of 1:100,000 and 1:126,000, are available for study. In the scale of 1:200,000 the collection has German and Polish sheets of the following map-series: Reymann’s Special Map; Topographical Special Map of Central Europe; Topographical Survey Map of the German Empire. Individual large-area maps printed singly and as parts of sets cover the series of survey maps of Central Europe in the 1:300,000 scale. The former eastern provinces of Prussia and western Russia are represented in the collection almost without lacunae. The contents of this part of the collection cover the north from Turku to Schlüsselberg; the east from Korjelskoe to Câmpulung Moldovenesc; the south from Câmpulung Moldovenesc to Constance. The represented area is somewhat extended towards the northeast by the German army map (1:300,000 scale) and by sheets from the Asian union republics. In the smaller scale formats of 1:500,000, 1:800,000 and 1:1,000,000, only a few individual sheets from various map sets from the Soviet Union, Poland and Germany are available.

Automobile and bicycle maps make up the second select group of series-maps in the collection, and specialized nautical charts the third. Map series from the German Hydrographic Institute of Hamburg, the Sea Hydrographic Service of Rostock and individual departments of other publishing houses are responsible for the greater part of the collection’s holdings in the third group.