The Prussian Urmesstischblätter are hand-drawn, one-off topographic maps produced from 1822 onward 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 dataset includes individual map sheets, some of which have been reworked for color accuracy and are available as high-quality plots from the Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie.
Use Cases
- Analyze the evolution of cartographic techniques based on hand-drawn map features.
- Study historical land use and geography of Prussia based on detailed topographic representations.
- Digitize and georeference historical maps for integration with modern GIS layers.
- Compare original hand-drawn maps with later reworked versions based on color scheme improvements.
Strengths
- Maps are foundational to modern topographic cartography, as stated in the description.
- Individual sheets have been reworked for higher color fidelity to the original.
- Produced at a detailed scale of 1:25,000 for the entire territory of Prussia.
Limitations
- Last updated 1845-01-01 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 conducted by the Royal Prussian General Staff.
- Time Range
- Production began in 1822.
- Geography
- Entire territory of Prussia.