District map series
The Kreiskartenwerk was a card series that was used in the GDR for local history lessons and for geography at the polytechnic high schools. General geographical and thematic maps of a circle were compiled on one sheet . The cards were delivered as student hand cards and as wall cards.
Emergence
The first series of district maps was developed in the years 1956 to 1965 and consisted of wall and hand maps with identical content and graphics in 130 titles. The revision and delivery of the second circle hand and circle wall map series (178 titles) took place in the period 1976 to 1989.
The revised series of district maps, which was developed on behalf of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the GDR (APW) and delivered centrally and free of charge to the polytechnic high schools at the time , was created in close cooperation between the Potsdam University of Education and the VEB Hermann Haack Gotha. The new hand map titles were published from 1980 to 1988, while the single-sheet wall maps (approx. 1 m² in size) appeared in the period 1983 to 1989. (Concept: E. Breetz. Editing: W. Görtler et al.).
A district map series was also drawn up from 1985 to 1989 .
Even though residual copies of the former second district map work, the most elaborate school cartographic series product of the GDR, bear the name of administrative units (districts) that are no longer up-to-date in their titles, the wall maps in particular are occasionally (2010) still used as posters for quick orientation and to capture regional landscape structures ( e.g. in hotel receptions, tourist offices, nature conservation centers and other public facilities).
Student hand cards
In contrast to the district map series developed in the period 1956 to 1965, the new hand maps were printed on both sides. Each map sheet contained the multicolored general-geographic main map (district map in the proper sense) on the front and four single-color thematic maps of the district with the subjects of traffic, culture, industry and agriculture on the back.
For the general geographic main map, the aim was to achieve a scale of 1: 100,000, which the students could easily understand . Since a format limitation of 45 cm in length and 55 cm in width had been set for reasons of handiness, this scale could not be used on all maps in the hand.
In accordance with the format limitation and in order to facilitate spatial and conceptual orientation for the students, the preferred representation of district groups in the old district map series was largely avoided, so that the majority of the new district map series had titles of individual circles.
Wall maps
The circular wall maps published from 1983 to 1989 were enlargements of the general geographic main map of the hand map, mainly on the double scale of the hand map (for example 1: 50,000 or 1: 60,000). In contrast to the old, large-format wall maps (uniform scale 1: 25,000), which were composed of partial sheets (sections), the new wall maps were only printed on one sheet, which gave the student working from the front a complete overview of the entire map image and thus one quick spatial orientation was made possible. The new single-sheet wall map (EWK) could also be viewed in full by the entire class during demonstrative explanations by the teacher or a student.
Due to the content and graphic equality of general geographical hand and wall maps, there were no difficulties in mutual orientation of the students, especially since all important structural elements were still clearly recognizable on the wall map up to a viewing distance of 7 m.
Literature and Sources
- Egon Breetz: Pedagogical-technical task for school wall maps and student hand cards of the home district . Potsdam / Berlin 1976. (PTA / conception; unpublished).
- Egon Breetz: The new district map series - the most extensive school cartographic development project . In: Zeitschrift für den Gekundeunterricht, issue 7/1985, pp. 255–261.
- Eberhard Scholz: Kreishandkarten 1: 100,000 with geomorphological overprint. In: Zeitschrift für den Gekundeunterricht, issue 11/1965, pp. 412–420.
- Wilfried Görtler: Cartographic teaching materials from Gotha for local history lessons . In: Cartographic Writings. Volume 8, Bonn 2003, pp. 118-126.
- Manfred Naundorf: New district maps - an important tool for teaching local history . In: Die Unterstufe, issue 11/1955, pp. 16-17.