Prussian Urmesstischblatt sheets are hand-drawn topographic maps produced from 1822 for the entire territory of Prussia. The Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie provides these unique pieces at a scale of 1:25,000, which were originally created as a basis for smaller-scale maps. The production of these sheets was guided by the 1821 instruction for topographic works of the Royal Prussian General Staff.
Use Cases
- Analyzing historical land use based on hand-drawn topographic features.
- Studying the evolution of cartographic techniques based on the foundational mapping standards.
- Georeferencing historical locations based on the detailed 1:25,000 scale maps.
- Training computer vision models for historical map feature recognition based on the hand-drawn imagery.
Strengths
- Sheets are hand-drawn unique pieces, suggesting high detail and historical value.
- Produced at a consistent scale of 1:25,000, enabling comparative analysis.
- Individual map sheets have been reworked in color to be more similar to the original.
Limitations
- Last updated date is 1825-12-31; 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 production for the Royal Prussian General Staff.
- Time Range
- Production began in 1822; individual sheet dated 1825.
- Freshness
- 1825-12-31
- Geography
- Covers the territory of Prussia, specifically the Putlitz area.