1822 marked the start of production for the Prussian Urmesstischblatt, hand-drawn topographic maps at a scale of 1:25,000. These unique sheets, created by the Royal Prussian General Staff, formed the foundational basis for smaller-scale maps and represent the beginning of modern topographic cartography. The Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie provides these maps, which are available as high-quality plano prints.
Use Cases
- Analyzing historical land use and settlement patterns based on the detailed 1:25,000 scale maps.
- Studying the evolution of cartographic design and symbology based on the hand-drawn, unique map sheets.
- Training computer vision models for historical map feature recognition based on the high-quality plot images.
Strengths
- Maps are hand-drawn unique pieces at a detailed 1:25,000 scale.
- Sheets represent the foundational beginning of modern topographic cartography, produced from 1822 onward.
- Individual sheets have been reworked in color to be more similar to the original.
Limitations
- Last updated 1843-01-01 00:00:00; freshness should be verified.
- Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
- The specific number of map sheets, file formats, and availability of digital versions are unknown.
Provenance
- Source
- Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie
- Collection Method
- Hand-drawn by the Royal Prussian General Staff based on instructions from 1821.
- Time Range
- Production began in 1822.
- Freshness
- 1843-01-01 00:00:00
- Geography
- Entire territory of Prussia.