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 Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie provides these maps, which were originally intended as a basis for smaller-scale maps and mark the beginning of modern topographic cartography. Individual sheets are available plano as prints, with some reworked in color to be more similar to the original.
Use Cases
- Analyze historical land use and settlement patterns based on hand-drawn topographic features.
- Study the evolution of cartographic design and standards based on the 1821 Royal Prussian General Staff instructions.
- Georeference historical maps for comparison with modern geospatial data based on the 1:25,000 scale.
Strengths
- Maps are hand-drawn one-offs, providing unique historical artifacts.
- Production began in 1822, offering a long historical time range for analysis.
- Some individual sheets have been reworked in color to be more similar to the original.
Limitations
- Last updated 1827-12-31 00:00:00; freshness should be verified.
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
Provenance
- Source
- Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie
- Collection Method
- Hand-drawn cartographic surveys.
- Time Range
- Production began in 1822.
- Geography
- Entire territory of Prussia.