The Prussian Urmesstischblatt are hand-drawn, unique topographic map sheets produced beginning in 1822 for the entire territory of Prussia at a scale of 1:25,000. They were created by the Royal Prussian General Staff based on instructions from 1821 and mark the beginning of modern topographic cartography. The sheets are available as plano prints, with some individual sheets reworked in color to be more similar to the original.
Use Cases
- Analyze the evolution of cartographic techniques based on the hand-drawn, foundational nature of the sheets.
- Study historical land use and geography in Prussia based on the detailed 1:25,000 scale maps.
- Train computer vision models for historical map feature recognition based on the high-quality plot availability.
- Compare original hand-drawn maps with later derived, smaller-scale maps based on their stated purpose as a base.
Strengths
- Sheets are hand-drawn unique pieces, providing original source material.
- Produced at a detailed scale of 1:25,000.
- Some sheets have been reworked in color to be more similar to the original.
Limitations
- Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
- Last updated 1844-01-01 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
- Hand-drawn cartographic production by the Royal Prussian General Staff.
- Time Range
- Production began in 1822; last updated field is 1844.
- Geography
- Entire territory of Prussia; specific sheet covers Oderberg.