From 1875, the Prussian State Recording began producing topographic maps at a scale of 1:25,000, with the work essentially completed by 1912. These measuring table sheets, featuring contour lines and a normal-zero reference, formed the largest-scale topographic map series for the area of the Reich Office for Land Recording by 1931. The maps are available as plano sheets, mostly as single-colored prints.
Use Cases
- Analyze historical landforms and terrain based on contour line representation.
- Study changes in cartographic standards and civilian map demand referenced in the description.
- Compare pre-1875 and post-1875 map production techniques based on the timeline of new photographs.
- Visualize the administrative geography of the German Empire based on the coverage of the Reich Office for Land Recording.
Strengths
- Provides a detailed historical map series covering a significant period from 1875 to 1931.
- Offers a large-scale (1:25,000) topographic basis for the area of the German Empire.
- Includes contour line representation and a normal-zero reference for elevation data.
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.
- Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
Provenance
- Source
- Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie
- Collection Method
- Topographic recording by the Prussian State Recording.
- Time Range
- 1875-1931
- Geography
- German Empire (area of the Reich Office for Land Recording)