Prussian Urmesstischblätter are hand-drawn, one-off topographic maps produced starting in 1822 for the entire territory of Prussia at a scale of 1:25,000. The maps, which were not published but served as the basis for smaller-scale maps, were created by the Royal Prussian General Staff following design standards set in 1821. The original sheets mark the beginning of modern topographic cartography and are available as plano prints, with some reworked in color to be more similar to the original hand-drawn versions.
Use Cases
- Training image segmentation models to identify historical map features based on the hand-drawn cartographic elements.
- Analyzing changes in landscape and land use over time based on the detailed 1:25,000 scale topographic information.
- Digitizing and georeferencing historical maps for integration into modern GIS based on the foundational cartographic data.
- Studying the design and standardization of early 19th-century military cartography based on the Royal Prussian General Staff's specifications.
Strengths
- Maps are foundational to modern topographic cartography, marking a key historical development.
- Production followed specific design and content standards set by the Royal Prussian General Staff in 1821.
- Some sheets have been reworked in color to more closely resemble the original hand-drawn versions.
Limitations
- Last updated 1827-12-31 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
- Hand-drawn cartographic surveys by the Royal Prussian General Staff.
- Time Range
- Production began in 1822; the specific sheet date is 1827.
- Geography
- Territory of Prussia, specific sheet covers Woldegk.