German Empire Topographic Maps 1:25,000 Scale, 1875-1931

From 1875, the Prussian state began recording topographic maps at a 1:25,000 scale, a process largely completed by 1912. The Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie produced these measuring table sheets, which constituted the largest-scale topographic map series for the area by 1931. The maps include contour lines and elevation references and were primarily intended for civilian use.

Use Cases

• Analyze historical land use changes based on topographic features.
• Study the evolution of cartographic techniques based on the map series' production timeline.
• Georeference historical locations based on the detailed 1:25,000 scale.
• Train computer vision models for map feature recognition based on contour lines and monochrome printing.

Strengths

• Covers a significant historical period from 1875 to 1931.
• Provides large-scale topographic detail at 1:25,000.
• Includes contour lines and elevation references for terrain analysis.

Limitations

• Last updated 1932-01-01 00:00:00; freshness should be verified.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie

Collection Method

Topographic surveying and map production by the Prussian state and later Reichsamt für Landesaufnahme.

Time Range

1875 to 1931

Freshness

1932-01-01 00:00:00

Geography

German Empire (area of responsibility of the Reichsamt für Landesaufnahme)