Post-charter of Georg Ignaz von Metzburg

The post-charter of the Kaiserl. Royal Erblanden by Georg Ignaz Freiherr von Metzburg (1735–1798) was created in 1782 on a scale of 1: 1,300,000. This map is 146 × 98 cm in size. Each of the four pieces stretched on linen and cut up measures 73 × 49 cm. The name Mansfeld is given as the engraver . It is about the copper engraver and portraitist Johann Ernst Mansfeld (1738–1796), who is known for his neat working method. Georg Ignaz von Metzburg was a member of the Jesuit order and holder of the chair for mathematics at the University of Vienna . Until shortly before his death he was still busy with the surveying of the western Galician territories that had only been annexed .

The Lower Austrian estates, to which Metzburg belonged, were interested in the topography because, in addition to an overview of the acquis, they also wanted to obtain more precise information about economic resources and the state of affairs of trade, industry and agriculture in order to better understand the country's deficiencies and needs to be able to recognize. In 1791 they commissioned another map, which Metzburg was involved in creating.

The post-chart is of great importance as it is the first thematic of the Habsburg monarchy. It was designed on behalf of the kk Hofkammer.

According to the map of Metzburg (1782) there were 16 post stations on the route between Salzburg and Vienna. It took about six days to cover the distance without major breaks.

description

"Post-Charter of the Kaiserl. Royal Hereditary lands / By Mr. Abbe Georg Ignaz / Freyherrn von Metzburg Kais. Königl / Professor of Mathematique at the University of Vienna. / engraved by Mansfeld / MDCCLXXXII / Cron Priv. Sac. Cas. Majest. "

This text is part of the title cartouche in the lower left corner of the map and is graphically integrated as the inscription of a monument in front of which an open pair of horses is driving past. Two people sit in the car. The coachman carries a post horn that dangles from a strap on his back. So it is a stagecoach , more precisely an extra post , as all the scenes depicted deal with the subject of travel and the map contributes to understanding the history of the post by also showing the equipment and means of transport for travelers.

In the foreground are two men equipped with walking sticks, one of whom is sitting and resting and seems to be showing the other the way with his right hand. The standing man wears boots and a saber under his jacket. A third is about to feast on the water of a well that he collects in his hat.

Past the monument, which is adorned with a crowned imperial-royal coat of arms ( Austria / Lorraine ) and an eagle, a road winds up to the heights of a castle hill past a house, in front of which a car is parked. The Pairs meet a single rider with a thick, lying on the saddle luggage bag, and later to a high above his head laden man. A signpost can be seen between the two figures. A four-horse carriage struggles up the slope that begins right after the house.

The section shows the common units of measurement around 1782.

At the bottom right there is a legend including a scale in graphic form: German (15 to a degree 2 for one post), Hungarian and French miles are shown with distance information as well as the symbols for a single, a double, one and a half post in imperial-royal states, as well as the borders of the hereditary countries and those of the provinces. A post covered a length of a little more than 15 kilometers (= two Austrian post miles ), which could be covered in about two hours by stagecoach.

The map covers the landscape from Calais in the northwest to Pietrikowo in the northeast and from Turin in the southwest to Sophia or Czernawoda in the southeast.

The area is only indicated schematically and the post stations are connected by lines drawn with a ruler. In accordance with its purpose, the card only contains the information that is most important for postal travelers. Since there was more manageable map material for the traveler or this was created afterwards, the Post-Charte probably served as a representative wall decoration for post offices, trading offices or the like. At that time it cost between 2 fl. 51 kr and 3 fl.

literature

Link to the map provided online by the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze .
Johannes Dörflinger : Austrian cartography in the 18th and beginning of the 19th century. With special consideration of private cartography between 1780 and 1820. Volume 1: Austrian maps of the 18th century, Verlag der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna, 1984, p. 82–86 (Publications of the Commission for the History of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Medicine 42 / Session Reports Austrian Academy of Sciences, Philosophical-Historical Class 427), ISBN 3-7001-1480-X .
Gebhard König: Georg Ignaz Freiherr von Metzburg and the topographical efforts of the Lower Austrian estates. In: Heinz Hauffe (Ed.): Cultural heritage and library management. Festschrift for Walter Neuhauser on his 65th birthday on September 22, 1998. Austrian. National Library, Vienna 1998, (Biblos-Schriften 170) ISBN 3-9500751-2-7 , pp. 383–392.

Individual evidence

^ Gebhard König : Georg Ignaz Freiherr von Metzburg and the topographical efforts of the Lower Austrian estates. In: Heinz Hauffe (Ed.): Cultural heritage and library management. Festschrift for Walter Neuhauser on his 65th birthday on September 22, 1998. Austrian. National Library, Vienna 1998, p. 383.
↑ See Johannes Dörflinger: Austrian cartography in the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. With special consideration of private cartography between 1780 and 1820. Volume 1: Austrian maps of the 18th century, Verlag der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna, 1984 , P. 82.
^ Mirko Herzog: The postal traffic between Liechtenstein and Vienna around 1800 using the example of the correspondence of the Higher Office in Vaduz. Unprinted dissertation, University of Salzburg 1999, p. 159.
↑ See Johannes Dörflinger: Austrian cartography in the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. With special consideration of private cartography between 1780 and 1820. Volume 1: Austrian maps of the 18th century, Verlag der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna, 1984 , P. 83.

[1] Gebhard König : Georg Ignaz Freiherr von Metzburg and the topographical efforts of the Lower Austrian estates. In: Heinz Hauffe (Ed.): Cultural heritage and library management. Festschrift for Walter Neuhauser on his 65th birthday on September 22, 1998. Austrian. National Library, Vienna 1998, p. 383.

[2] See Johannes Dörflinger: Austrian cartography in the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. With special consideration of private cartography between 1780 and 1820. Volume 1: Austrian maps of the 18th century, Verlag der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna, 1984 , P. 82.

[3] Mirko Herzog: The postal traffic between Liechtenstein and Vienna around 1800 using the example of the correspondence of the Higher Office in Vaduz. Unprinted dissertation, University of Salzburg 1999, p. 159.

[4] See Johannes Dörflinger: Austrian cartography in the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. With special consideration of private cartography between 1780 and 1820. Volume 1: Austrian maps of the 18th century, Verlag der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna, 1984 , P. 83.