Hand-drawn Prussian Urmesstischblätter topographic maps at a scale of 1:25,000, produced starting in 1822. The Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie provides these maps, which were originally one-off manuscripts intended as the basis for smaller-scale maps. These original measuring table sheets mark the beginning of modern topographic cartography.
Use Cases
- Analyze historical land use and settlement patterns based on the hand-drawn topographic features.
- Train image segmentation models for historical map feature extraction based on the detailed cartographic content.
- Study the evolution of cartographic design and standards based on the foundational 1821 Royal Prussian General Staff instructions.
- Georeference historical landscape features based on the high-detail 1:25,000 scale maps.
Strengths
- Maps are available as high-quality plots, suggesting good visual fidelity.
- The dataset represents the foundational origin of modern topographic cartography.
- Individual sheets have been reworked in color to be more similar to the original hand-drawn versions.
Limitations
- Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
- Last updated 1827-01-01 00:00:00; freshness should be verified.
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
Provenance
- Source
- Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie
- Collection Method
- Original maps were hand-drawn one-offs based on instructions from the Royal Prussian General Staff.
- Time Range
- Production began in 1822.
- Geography
- Covers the entire territory of Prussia, with a specific sheet for Penkun (sheet 2751).