From 1875, the Prussian State Recording began creating topographic maps at a scale of 1:25,000, with the work essentially completed by 1912. The Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie produced these measuring table sheets, which featured contour lines and a normal-zero reference, forming 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, typically in single-color prints.
Use Cases
- Analyze historical land use changes based on topographic features like contour lines.
- Study the evolution of cartographic techniques and standards from the late 19th to early 20th century.
- Georeference historical features for modern GIS analysis based on the precise 1:25,000 scale.
Strengths
- Covers a significant historical period from 1875 to 1931.
- Provides a large-scale (1:25,000) topographic base for the German Empire.
- Was the primary detailed map series for the Reich Office for Land Recording.
Limitations
- Last updated 1933-01-01 00:00:00; freshness should be verified.
- Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
Provenance
- Source
- Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie
- Collection Method
- Topographic surveying and cartographic production by the Prussian State Recording.
- Time Range
- 1875 to 1931
- Freshness
- Historical data; last updated date is 1933-01-01.
- Geography
- Area of the German Empire (Prussian State Recording / Reich Office for Land Recording)