Johann Christoph Rhode

Johann Christoph Rhode (* 1713 in the Duchy of Magdeburg; † 1786 in Berlin ) was a German cartographer .

Life

The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin had received the monopoly for card production in Prussia in 1748 and the privilege of collecting a stamp duty} for imported cards. To fulfill the cartographic publication claim associated with the royal monopoly, Rhode was appointed geographer of the academy in 1752. He performed this task until his death; his successor was Daniel Friedrich Sotzmann .

Rhode was with his older brother, the engineer Andreas August Rhode , the Schmettau 'rule geodetic involved surveys. Leonhard Euler , who also worked as a cartographer and was promoted to head of the academy in 1759, brought Rhode to Berlin. In 1752 Rhode received the title of geographer from the academy. Under Euler's direction, Rhode had been working on a “German postcard” since 1752, which recorded the postal routes in the then Roman-German Empire.

Probably the most successful project of the academy was the school atlas, which was planned since 1748 and also realized with the help of Leonhard Euler. In 1753 the 1st edition of the Atlas geographicus omnes orbis terrarum regiones appeared in XLI tabulis ... / Atlas géographique représentant en XLI cartes toutes les regions de la terre ... with a foreword by Euler. The 2nd edition with the main German title Geographischer Atlas, consisting of 44 country charts, ... was published in 1760, the 3rd unchanged in 1777.

The need to improve and expand the content of the school atlas was recognized by the academy, but the third edition appeared without such changes, which JC Rhode was commissioned to make. It stayed that way until 1786. Other publications by the Academy, with the significant participation of JC Rhode, included the Deutsche Postcharte (1755), maps of the War Theater in North America (1757), the Landgraviate of Hesse (1761), of Pomerania (4 sheets 1761–1764), from Prussia (after 1764), from Mecklenburg (1765), from the Tiergarten near Berlin (1765), from Bremen and Verden as well as Bavaria (1767), from Russia (3 sheets 1769), from the Duchy of Lauenburg (1771), the diocese of Aggerhus and from the theater of war between Austria, Russia and Turkey (1786). The New Geometric Plan of the Royal Capital and Residence City of Berlin, designed by JC Rhode in 1772, was a great success .

Except for the two city maps of Berlin and the plan of the zoo, the map catalog of the academy until 1786 shows no depictions of Brandenburg. However, Andreas August Rhode had received an order from the academy to deliver a general card for the Churmark Brandenburg , which he made using numerous special cards and presented in July 1766. The academy hoped to make a good profit by publishing this card and did not think it had to fear the king's objection. Nevertheless, the decision was made to obtain royal approval for publication and - stumbled into a wasp's nest: The king immediately let the academy know that sooner or later this map would only bring disadvantages to the depicted areas of Brandenburg-Prussia if it were published. On the other hand, the academy could have maps of foreign regions engraved to its heart's content. The clear expression of royal displeasure prevented the publication of a contemporary map of Brandenburg until the death of Frederick II.

Until his death in 1786, Rhode created numerous other maps, although his work opportunities were limited due to the material available to him.

Works (selected)

New geometric plan of the entire Royal, Prussian and Electoral Brandenburg capital and resident city of Berlin (copy of a map by JC Rhode from 1772)

• Tabula Geographica Hemisphaerii Borealis (North Pole), 1753
• Theatrum Belli in America Septentrionali…, 1755
• Geographical atlas consisting of 44th country charts on which all parts of the Earth Creyses are presented. On the orders of the royal. Academie der Wissenschaften described according to the best charts published so far and especially published for the use of young people in schools, 1760
• Map of Old Prussia with the title BORUSSIA Regia et Ducalis jussu Acad. Reg. Scient. et El. Suffered. exactissime descripta a J [ohann] C [hristoph] R [hode] A [cademiae] G [oegrapho], In the first edition of the Geographical Atlas on p. 26, in the second and third edition on p. 28
• Mappa Geographica Asiae Minoris Antiqae jussu ACADEM .... descripta, 1780
• Partes confines Trium Magnorum Imperiorum Austriaci Russici et Osmanici, 1785

Web links

• www.geog.fu-berlin.de (Wolfgang Scharfe: From the district map to the state survey)
• www.annaberger-annalen.de (Rasa Seibutytė: Lithuania Minor on the Prussian maps of the 18th century) (PDF; 665 kB)