Farmer cartographer

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term peasant cartographer or farmer cartographer was coined in the 18th century on two autodidactic Tyrolean mountain farmers from Oberperfuß , who owe the first precise land survey of Tyrol: Peter Anich (1723–1766), Hoferbeer, globe turner and creator of the Atlas Tyrolensis , and his pupils and successor Blasius Hueber (1735-1814).

Due to their quality, their 20-part map of North and South Tyrol was included in the Josefinische Landesaufnahme , which was otherwise carried out by Austrian military geographers , and led to further assignments in Vorarlberg , Swabia and Upper Austria, which Anton Kirchebner (1750–1831) and Magnus Hueber completed .

The cartographers Anich and Hueber

The Habsburg cartography of the 16th century was inspired by the estates , here Tyrol played a leading role with Matthias Burgklechner . In the absolutism of the late 17th century, however, military geographers (such as Anguisolla ) took over this task, because land surveying and surveying was one of the tasks of officers and military engineers. Trigonometric surveying was also established in military circles ( Atlas Austriacus by J.Chr. Müller , unfinished around 1720; Josephinische Landesaufnahme 1760er –80er ).

The surveying of South Tyrol began in 1754 by Joseph Freiherr von Sperges . However, when he was recalled to Vienna in 1759, the Innsbruck professor Ignaz Weinhart SJ suggested that the farmer Peter Anich , who was already known for his sundials and the 1 meter celestial globe , be commissioned with the completion . Anich and his two South Tyrolean helpers were able to record the missing valley areas in just a few weeks. It was more difficult for Weinhart to get the talented farmer to get the order for a more precise map of "all of Tyrol" - the Atlas Tyrolensis . After several changes ordered by the government, Anich implemented the original map scale of 1: 103,800, which was necessary for an accurate representation of the scattered settlements and the high mountains. He had made the measuring instruments himself in his turner's shop, and they were more precise than those of Sperges.

His assistant was Blasius Hueber in 1765 , who was able to quickly familiarize himself. While working in the fields, Anich fell ill with marsh fever and died the following year, but Hueber was able to continue the land survey and complete it around 1770. When he published this first complete land survey of Tyrol as a copperplate in 1774, the academic world also praised the cartographic accuracy and care of the 20-sheet work drawn on a scale of 1: 103.800. Basic trigonometric methods had Anich autodidactically developed itself. The rural population, initially skeptical and negative towards the surveyors - staking out the reasons was one of the sovereign agendas of the mountain farming population in the Alpine region of Austria and Switzerland - soon began to appreciate the advantages of a map series that not only showed the valleys, but also the mountainous regions. and alpine regions. Scientists and military genius officers only dealt with the latter in more detail about 100 years later. In fact, the map series was also integrated into the official national survey.

Another reason for the name to be embossed - which is in no way to be understood derogatory - is the lettering on the cards . While the earlier works were all written in Latin in the scientific language of the Middle Ages , and the imperial military geographers - and later the Statistical Bureau / Centralamt - were instructed to include standardized Austrian-German orthography in the general staff maps, the Anich-Hueber maps are included ortskundlich correctly umgeschrifteten Tirolisch - dialectal Toponymika provided.

Atlas Tyrolensis 1774

More farmer cartographers

There was already a famous Tyrolean cartographer of rural origin in the previous century, namely Georg Matthäus Vischer (1628–1696), the creator of the two Topographia Austriae . The map of the terrain by the surveyor, who also works as a priest, is much simpler than that of the actual farmer cartographers Anich, Hueber and Successors.

Compared to Anich, Hueber and his assistant and successor, Anton Kirchebner (1750–1831) , who was also born near Innsbruck, developed an even more refined representation of the terrain . When Hueber fell ill while surveying Upper Swabia, Kirchebner successfully completed the work. Afterwards, he and his assistant Magnus Hueber were assigned the first-time mapping of Upper Austria , for whose political structure he designed special signatures. When the war broke out in 1794, the work was stopped and the cartographic activities of these innovative farmers ended. After the Napoleonic Wars, it was transferred to technical officers.

The fact that all of the farmer cartographers mentioned come from Tyrol is partly due to its administrative circumstances, but it is also no technical coincidence. For scientists and military geographers at the time, mountainous regions were more of a repellent wasteland that should only be traversed quickly. Therefore only the transit routes were relevant, and these were primarily cut to length in distance hours , because they were mapped. Greater interest in scientific mountaineering did not arise until the 19th century.

On the other hand, the military system of the County of Tyrol was organized independently within the Habsburg Monarchy ( Landlibell Maximilians I. 1511) and was not carried by the regular army, but by the Tyrolean riflemen , who were organized as a militia association on a communal and rural level. That is why the centralized genius from Vienna was not welcomed in Tyrol.

End of peasant cartography around 1795

The reason why later cartographers from the peasant class were hardly given that name is related, among other things, to the general compulsory education that was introduced everywhere in the 18th century . With the consent of their parents, it enabled many exceptionally gifted farmer's children to receive a higher education, which resulted in corresponding appreciation. The initial encouragement to longer school attendance was usually given by the local pastor or teacher.

Specifically, however, the activity of the farmer cartographers ended with the war that broke out in front of Austria in 1794 , which interrupted the surveying work there. The foreland went to Bavaria, whose geodesists corresponded to the French genius officers. Further changes caused by the Napoleonic wars made the land survey almost entirely the task of military geographers. A few decades later, the Vienna University of Technology , founded in 1815, and a few polytechnics took over the academic training of surveyors. In addition, in most of the late modern states, sovereign, initially military central surveying offices were installed because the importance of good map material and its strategic importance was recognized. In particular, the DuOe acquired the task of measuring the Alps . Merit of the Alpine Club in the later 19th century.

Remarks

  1. ↑ In the early modern period, sovereign surveying was perceived as impermissible interference in the internal affairs of the free peasantry . The property system was organized in the communities and commons until the 18th century and was decided by local judges appointed by the free and hereditary farmers who were only obliged to the sovereign within the rulers. This office, the Hoagmoar (and other), was awarded in the circle of the community through the Ranggeln , a wrestling match, for the duration of the year. This custom is still practiced today from South Tyrol to Pinzgau and Upper Carinthia and was declared an intangible cultural heritage in Austria with the Hundstoaranggeln .
  2. ↑ This “Germanization” of dialect names into standard spelling has been a controversial issue since the 18th century. Since the 1970s - in the context of the greater autonomy of the municipalities and states, as well as tourism - there have been tendencies in Austria and Switzerland (in South Tyrol the question is still politically sensitive) to convert place names back into the etymologically correct spelling. (A well-known example is the pseudo-verbatim community name Dienten / Salzburgerland, which is without exception pronounced “Deanten” because a sound shift in the diphthong was misinterpreted at the time ). Literature:
    Josef Schatz : About the writing of Tyrolean place names . In: Journal of the Ferdinandeum for Tyrol and Vorarlberg . Publications of the Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum 3_40. No. 3/40 , 1896, pp. 101–132 ( PDF on ZOBODAT - especially discussion of the general dialectic namesake Tyrol p. 120 ff, in PDF p. 20). Eduard Imhof:     The place names in the official plans and maps . Special reprint. In: Swiss journal for surveying and cultural technology . Year 1945, booklet No.
     5 , 6, 7, 8 and 9, chap. I. Dialect or written spelling , p. oA . ( Localnames.ch [PDF] on the subject in Switzerland, partly transferable to Austrian conditions). Compare also general acceptance spelling of local names. In: GISpunkt HSR - the Wiki. Retrieved January 10, 2011 .
  3. ↑ Anich's sundials , which are also built close to the people, are just as extraordinary . In the middle band, for example, they show the (working) hours of the clear day that are important for the rural population . Peter Anich - farmer cartographer from Oberperfuss (1723–1766) . In: Kulturraum Tirol. Peter Anich: Introduction . In: Max Edlinger (Ed.): Atlas Tyrolensis . Tyrolia, 1981, ISBN 3-7022-1434-8 , pp. 12 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  4. ↑ the neighboring prince-archbishopric of Salzburg no longer had a significant army in the middle of modern times, but this was also based on local riflemen. The prince archbishops were not interested in a precise survey of their land because the enormous natural resources of the Inner Mountains should be kept secret. The same applies to the imperial Salzkammergut .
  5. ↑ the Alpine Club map is still used today as reference material for Austrian surveying and place-naming

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry on Burgklechner, Matthias the Younger in the Austria Forum  (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
  2. ↑ after cartography . In: Richard Bamberger , Franz Maier-Bruck (Ed.): Austria Lexicon . tape 1 : A-K . Austrian Federal Publishing House for Education, Science and Art, Publishing House Jugend und Volk, Vienna / Munich 1966, p. 586 , col. 2 ( Webrepro eBook , austria-lexikon.at). For a newer version of the article, see the entry on cartography in the Austria Forum  (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
  3. ↑ see also Rudolf Henz: Peter Anich, the star seeker. Amandus-Verlag, Vienna 1946; Karl Paulin: Peter Anich's fateful hours: Pictures from the life of the great farmer cartographer.
  4. ^ German Society for Cartography (Ed.): Kartographische Nachrichten . tape 51 . Velhagen & Klasing, 2001 ( limited preview in Google book search). ; Franz Wawrik, Austrian National Library, Elisabeth Zeilinger: Austria on old maps and views . Academic printing and Publishing House, 1989, ISBN 3-201-01476-1 , p. 324 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  5. ^ German Society for Cartography (ed.): Geographische Rundschau . tape 33 . G. Westermann, 2001, p. 75 , col. 4 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  6. ^ Friedrich Ratzel:  Vischer, Georg Matthäus . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 40, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, p. 65.
  7. ↑ Hans Kinzl:  Kirchebner, Anton. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 11, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1977, ISBN 3-428-00192-3 , p. 637 f. ( Digitized version ).
  8. ↑ cf. on the subject of Werner Bätzing : The Alps - History and Future of a European Cultural Landscape. 1st TB edition: CH Beck, Munich 1984, 3rd edition: 2003, ISBN 3-406-50185-0 .
  9. ↑ see J. Rohrer, Federal Office for Metrology and Surveying (Ed.): 150 Years of State Surveying in Austria. 1959, for the exhibition 3. – 10. June 1956 in the Technical Museum Vienna.
    Federal Office for Metrology and Surveying (Ed.): Military maps: Austrian military cartography 1648–1987 and special exhibition 30 years of image aircraft in the BEV. Exhibition catalog, Federal Ministry f. National defense, Vienna 1987.