From 1875, the Prussian State Recording began producing topographic map sheets at a 1:25,000 scale, a process largely completed by 1912. These maps, featuring contour lines and a standard vertical datum, formed the primary large-scale topographic series for the German Empire's territory by 1931. The Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie provides these historical map sheets, which are typically single-color prints.
Use Cases
- Analyze historical landforms and elevation based on the contour line representation mentioned in the description.
- Study the evolution of cartographic techniques based on the transition from pre-1875 to post-1875 map styles.
- Georeference historical features for change detection based on the detailed 1:25,000 scale.
- Train models for historical map feature recognition based on the monochrome and occasional multi-color prints.
Strengths
- Provides a standardized, large-scale (1:25,000) topographic series for a major historical period.
- Covers a long production timeline, with sheets created from 1875 through updates until 1931.
- Includes contour lines and a standard vertical datum (normal-zero), enabling elevation 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.
- Data may reflect temporal and geographic bias inherent to the historical source.
Provenance
- Source
- Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie
- Collection Method
- Produced by the Prussian State Recording and later the Reich Office for Land Recording.
- Time Range
- 1875 to 1931
- Freshness
- 1932-01-01 00:00:00
- Geography
- German Empire (areas under the responsibility of the Reich Office for Land Recording)