Prussian Urmesstischblätter: Hand-Drawn Topographic Maps at 1:25,000 Scale

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. They were created by the Royal Prussian General Staff and mark the beginning of modern topographic cartography. The data is provided by the Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie, with a last updated date of 1840-01-01.

Use Cases

• Analyze historical land use and settlement patterns based on hand-drawn topographic features.
• Train computer vision models for historical map feature recognition based on the detailed cartographic drawings.
• Study the evolution of cartographic design and symbology based on the standardized content and design rules established in 1821.
• Georeference and compare historical landscapes with modern maps based on the precise 1:25,000 scale.

Strengths

• Maps were produced at a precise 1:25,000 scale, offering detailed topographic information.
• Production began in 1822, providing a foundational historical record for Prussian cartography.
• Some individual sheets have been reworked in color to be more similar to the original hand-drawn state.

Limitations

• Last updated 1840-01-01; freshness should be verified.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality and file formats require manual inspection after download.
• Row count and column-level documentation are absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie

Collection Method

Hand-drawn, one-off maps produced by the Royal Prussian General Staff.

Time Range

Production began in 1822.

Freshness

1840-01-01

Geography

Entire territory of Prussia (historical).