Miles sheets from Saxony

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Representation of Dresden in the Berlin copy of the Sächsische Meilenblätter (state around 1780)

The miles sheets of Saxony are the result of the Saxon topographical survey , which was carried out with interruptions between 1780 and 1825. In particular, under the direction of Friedrich Ludwig Aster , 445 large-format, detailed map sheets on a scale of 1: 12,000 were created. In addition to the original, there are also two copies. A Saxon square mile (about 6.8 × 6.8 km) was depicted on each sheet, hence the name "Meilenblätter".

historical overview

Friedrich Ludwig Aster was head of the regional survey until his death in 1804.

The War of the Bavarian Succession of 1778/1779 brought the realization that in the event of border disputes with Austria in the area of ​​the border with Bohemia, precise maps would be required. The first Electoral Saxony land survey by Matthias Oeder and Balthasar Zimmermann from 1586 to 1634 was almost 150 years ago. The second survey of the country, which was carried out by Adam Friedrich Zürner between 1713 and 1742 using road surveys and questionnaires, was unsuitable for this.

Elector Friedrich August III, who ruled between 1763 and 1827. and later King Friedrich August I was the client for the military maps.

Therefore, Elector Friedrich August III commissioned. in August 1780 the engineer corps of the Electoral Saxon army with a new land survey. The then engineering major and later major general and commander of the engineering corps Friedrich Ludwig Aster was entrusted with the management. Even if the recording was primarily for military purposes, it was also intended to meet the cameralistic needs of mining , road and water construction.

Aster first used a triangulation with a baseline for Saxony . After measuring the baseline at Pirna, the area to the right of the Elbe was first recorded from 1781 - due to its military importance . Then you worked your way near the border in a strip of about two days' march on the Erzgebirgskamm towards the west. In the mid-1790s there was a move to include the interior as well. In addition to the working copy, a copy of each sheet was made for the elector and later king.

In 1806 the work, which was still subject to strict secrecy, was interrupted because of the Fourth Coalition War. At this point in time only the southern part - around a third of what was then still the much larger state of Saxony - was mapped. In the same year, the military planning chamber was founded and commissioned with viewing the maps that could be used by the military. In the battle of Jena , 100 original sheets fell into the hands of the French. The others were later handed over on request, but the voluntary return took place as early as autumn 1807. At the insistence of France, the survey was resumed in 1808, as there were no recordings, especially in the Thuringian part. In order to move forward quickly, the Campagne shot has been scaled down: a mile has been mapped to 10 inches, which corresponds to a scale of about 1: 28,800. In 1809 the work had to pause again. Then they were relocated to Upper Lusatia and the scale was reduced again. The four mile sheets now mapped the mile to 6 inches (scale 1: 48,000), but remained fragments. In the winter of 1812 and again in 1813 the original , which was then stored in the Königstein Fortress, was brought back to Paris, but was always returned. After Saxony's defeat in the Battle of Leipzig on Napoleon's side in 1813, the Prussian Field Marshal Blücher asked to see the cards. The copy that remained with the king was handed over against a receipt and is still in Berlin today.

The unmapped area of ​​the Kingdom of Saxony decreased significantly after about two thirds of the territory had to be surrendered to Prussia as a result of the Pressburg Treaty in 1815 . In 1819 secrecy was abandoned and the creation of a civilian copy for the Saxon Mining Authority began. The remaining parts of the country (about 70 sheets) were recorded between 1821 and 1825, again on a scale of 1: 12,000, by the military planning chamber under the direction of Jakob Andreas Hermann Oberreit .

Surveying bases

The survey was based on a geodetic triangulation with a baseline . Aster had studied this procedure during his stays in Holland and Denmark as well as the translation of a work by Thomas Bugge .

Overview of the miles sheets of the Berlin copy with the orientation to the northwest of the individual sheets

He placed the baseline on the flatness between Sonnenstein (Pirna) and Königstein . The 4.217 km long route was measured twice with an eight Dresden ells long rod (about 4.57 m), the difference being only 3/8 inches (about 1 cm). By adapting to the natural alignment of the plateau , the survey and thus the mile sheets were not aligned to the north, but pivoted to the west by about 42 degrees. The mile sheets thus point approximately to the northwest.

The first order network was surveyed by Aster himself. For the geodetic points, landmarks that can be seen from afar were chosen, attached and provided with signals. Objects that can be seen from afar, such as church towers, were also used as target points. The network was not determined at the beginning, but continuously expanded, with 3–4, sometimes up to twelve stations on each mile sheet. A theodolite of the Dresden court mechanic Johann Sigismund Mercklein was used to measure the angle , which measured to within 1 minute and allowed estimates to be made within 15 seconds. In 1798 the worn device, with which around 800 stations had been measured by then, was replaced by a theodolite from the workshop of Freiberg mining mechanic Johann Gotthelf Studer. The first-order network was condensed by a second-order network. High-ranking officers were available to Aster for this purpose. The terrain surveys and thus further compaction were carried out on the measuring table with a diopter ruler . Details were determined using the incision method. For this he had another two brigades of seven people each. The deviations proven today are less than 300 m.

Map series

The sheets of the map series have a size of approximately 56.6 × 56.6 cm. That corresponds to a Dresden square square . A survey mile was defined as 12,000 cubits, which explains the unusual scale.

The miles sheets were drawn in black, red, blue and brown ink . The scale allowed details such as B. to represent individual buildings, streams, paths and salt licks. There is no legend . However, a description of the militarily relevant information was created for each sheet.

With the help of hatching , the landscape was given a spatial image.

It is particularly noteworthy that an attempt was made to depict the relief with this series of maps . For this purpose, the recently developed method of Lehmann's hatching was used .

The Dresden copy , so named after the place of storage, is the original of the state survey. With 445 sheets it is the most extensive, but also the worst preserved due to its use as a working copy. It is also the only copy with the explanatory leaflets. Additions such as contour lines , height measurement points, the road and rail network that has been developing since 1830 and the growing settlements were made up to the beginning of the 20th century. During this time it was in direct military access through the Military Plan Chamber, which was renamed the Topographical Bureau in 1856 and the Department for Land Survey of the Saxon General Staff in 1903. In 1919 it came to the Land Survey Office of Saxony and in 1952 the sheets were handed over to the then Saxon State Main Archives, now the Saxon State Archives .

The Berlin copy was intended for the Elector - from 1806 King - and therefore bears the name of the King's Copy . The copies were made immediately after the completion of the original, usually in winter, by detail specialists. This copy , also known as a small copy , only contains 370 sheets, since many of the recordings were not yet completed in 1815 when it was brought to Prussia. The specimen is considered to be the best preserved because it has been little used compared to the other two and has hardly any additions. This is the best way to reproduce the situation at the time of recording. The copy is now in the map department of the Berlin State Library .

The Freiberg copy , also the large copy , comprises 394 map sheets and was produced between 1819 and 1834 for the Oberbergamt in Freiberg . Initially kept in the style of the other mile sheets, from 1821 the type of drawing was changed by making the hatches less clear and with gray color. Special emphasis is placed on the mining and metallurgy facilities, which were drawn in carmine red at the suggestion of August von Herder . In contrast to the small copy , it also contains the 70 sheets taken between 1821 and 1825. About 60 sheets were not copied for this because the area was now part of Prussia. There are also additions from the years 1843 and 1858. Additions were made up to around 1876.

Based on 162 sheets of the Great copy and three leaves of Dresdner specimen were of the Mark separators of the mining authorities with the assistance of engineer Lieutenant Kirbach Bergamt copies made from 1819 to 1853. The 174 sheets of the Mining Office copy that have been preserved mainly cover areas with mining: the Ore Mountains and the lignite mining areas around Zittau and Leipzig. Their quality is essentially the same as that of the large copy . A different scale (1: 8500) was chosen for twelve sheets in the area around Altenberg. The maps of the large copy and the mining office copy are now in the Freiberg mountain archive, a department of the Saxon State Archives.

Follow-up card series

Section from Sect. Freiberg of the Oberreit'schen Atlas

The Topographical Atlas of the Kingdom of Saxony by Oberreit is a reduction of the miles sheets commissioned by King Friedrich August I in 1819 "for the purpose of public utility and public use". For this purpose, the mile was mapped to 5 inches instead of 24 inches and the maps were oriented north. Each sheet is 70 × 79 cm in size and represents 30 square miles (5 × 6 miles) on a scale of 1: 57,600. The map series thus shrunk to 22 sheets. The atlas made with impressive copperplate engravings was started in 1821 and published in four deliveries between 1836 and 1860. During the creation, the miles sheets were subject to constant revision and changes in the road and rail network as well as the growing settlements were taken into account.

The topographic map of the Kingdom of Saxony represents a further reduction. Based on the Prussian general staff map , the representation was made on a scale of 1: 100,000. It was made between 1863 and 1873 by the Topographical Bureau , which emerged from the military planning chamber in 1856. There is also a simpler “location map” of the map, which does not include any height information.

The intensive coal mining in the Erzgebirge Basin gave rise to a map showing this area on a scale of 1: 24,000. For this purpose, the miles sheets were photographicly reduced and no hatching was used. Instead, the map contains corridor and rental boundaries .

The special geological map of the Kingdom of Saxony, begun in 1870, and the equidistant map on a scale of 1: 25,000 are also based on the miles sheets. Since the end of the triangulation begun in 1862 was not yet in sight, the Dresden copy was subjected to an overhaul (local locations, traffic network). The hatching has been replaced by contour lines that were determined by crooking .

Mining, represented by the Oberbergamt and Revierbergämter , had a particularly high need for precise maps and, because of its economic importance, had a great influence from the start. Between 1787 and 1801, despite military secrecy, 16 sheets - the so-called district copies - were produced at the expense of the Mining Authority . The true-to-scale markings were aligned in the north and had different sizes. Second copies of these sheets were in turn given to the mining authorities. After the Freiberg copy had been created at the request of the Oberbergamt, further copies were also made of it for official use. The "Mining Authority Copies", 162 sheets, were made for the Mining Authorities. From 1851 onwards, the Mensel sheet copies (Mensel = measuring table ) resulted in a further 348 miles sheets. These are simplified markings without too many details to be able to make entries. Awards were even drawn into the 99-sheet “Stollnkarte” until 1940.

It was not until the Royal Saxon Triangulation between 1862 and 1890 , led by August Nagel , and the measurement table sheets based on it , that the miles sheets lost their importance. However, the specimens produced at different times are still an important source for researching place and field names as well as cultural landscape research .

As part of a joint project, the Berlin copy was made available online in 2009 as a web map service without cut sheets .

See also

literature

  • About the topographical survey of Saxony. In: Hesperus. Encyclopedic magazine for educated readers. August 8, 1826, pp. 749–751 ( part 1 ), August 9, 1826, pp. 753–755 ( part 2 )
  • Hermann Oberreit: A little more about the older Saxon land survey . In: Annals of geography, ethnology and national studies . tape 11 , 1835, pp. 246-261 ( digitized version ).
  • August Nagel : The measurements in the kingdom of Saxony. A memorandum with suggestions for a rational land survey based on the European degree measurement . A. Huhle, Dresden 1876, p. 3–17 ( digitized version ).
  • Curt Treitschke : The Saxony state survey from 1780 to 1921 . In: Hans Praesent (Hrsg.): Contributions to German cartography . Academic Publishing Company, Leipzig 1921, p. 47-60 ( digitized version ).
  • Werner Stams: Historical considerations on the topographical basis for geological mapping in Saxony . In: Journal of Geological Sciences . tape 21 , no. 5/6 , 1993, pp. 745-752 .
  • Hans Brunner: The Saxon land survey from 1780 to 1825 . In: Atlas of the history and regional studies of Saxony . Supplement to cards H 12.1 and H 12.2. Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig and Land Survey Office of Saxony, Leipzig / Dresden 2005.
  • Jana Moser: The peculiarities of map production in Saxony as part of the Central European degree measurement (since 1862) . In: Brandenburg surveying . No. 1 , 2013, p. 31-35 ( PDF ).

Web links

Commons : Milesheets  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Presentation of the atlas on the history and regional studies of Saxony. (PDF; 3.9 MB) p. 15 ff. , Accessed on July 28, 2015 : “[Unter] Friedrich Ludwig Aster and later Oberreit [...] 441 Saxon miles sheets [, ...] after the Storage locations referred to as the Dresden, Berlin and Freiberg copies. [Note: The Kingdom of Saxony emerged from the Electorate around 1806.] "
  2. ^ In: Hesperus , 1826, p. 750
  3. ↑ W. Stams, 1993, p. 745.
  4. ↑ H. Brunner, 2005, p. 37.
  5. ↑ H. Brunner, 2005, p. 39.
  6. ↑ Triangulating I. Retrieved on March 23, 2017 (illustration on "Setting up a signal").
  7. ↑ a b c H. Brunner, 2005, p. 16.
  8. ↑ C. Treitschke, 1921, p. 49.
  9. ↑ Sabine Witschas: Remembrance of the future - Saxon historical maps show the change in landscape . In: Cartographic News . tape 52 , no. 3 , 2002 ( PDF , transcript).
  10. ↑ H. Brunner, 2005, p. 47.
  11. ↑ a b H. Brunner, 2005, p. 48.
  12. ↑ a b c inventory 40044 general plans. Retrieved March 15, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Introduction to the inventory 40044 Generalrisse
  14. ↑ C. Treitschke, 1921, p. 53.
  15. ^ Emil von Sydow : The cartographical standpoint of Europe in the years 1862 and 1863, with special consideration of the progress of the topographical special work in the year 1862 . In: Communications from Justus Perthes' geographical institute about important new researches in the whole field of geography . Justus Perthes, Gotha 1863, p. 475 f . ( Digitized version ).
  16. ↑ Ludwig Harzer: Overview map of the parts of the Kingdom of Saxony belonging to the Erzgebirge coal basin in 1/24000 of the natural size . Meinhold & Söhne, Dresden 1859 ( digital copy - additions 1861, 7 sheets 63 × 58 cm).
  17. ↑ A. Nagel, 1876, p. 15.
  18. ↑ W. Stams, 1993, p. 750.
  19. ↑ J. Moser, 2013, p. 33.
  20. ↑ H. Brunner, 2005, p. 29 f.
  21. ↑ a b H. Brunner, 2005, p. 52 f.
  22. ^ Ulrich Walz, Ulrich Schumacher: Saxon miles sheets as a source of cultural landscape research using the example of Saxon Switzerland . In: Cartographica Helvetica: specialist magazine for card history . tape 43-44 , 2011 ( digitized version ).
  23. ↑ Dresden University of Technology and Economics, Faculty of Geoinformation, Web Map Service - Berliner Meilenblätter Sachsens , accessed on March 15, 2017