Thomas Schöpf

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City doctor Thomas Schöpf with a plague patient, painting by Rudolf Münger (1917)

Thomas Schöpf (* 1520 probably in Breisach ; † 1577 in Bern ) was a Swiss doctor, city ​​physician of Bern and alleged cartographer .

Life

Thomas Schöpf studied the fine arts at the University of Basel from 1541 to 1547 . In 1547 he married Anna Suracherin in Basel . Until 1552 he was a master's degree in St. Peter and gave the young Felix Platter lessons on the clavichord . He accompanied him to Montpellier to study medicine in 1552 , received his doctorate in medicine in Valence in 1553 and returned on May 5, 1553. In 1564 he was city doctor in Colmar , in 1565 he became city doctor in Bern. Schöpf was a member of the Middle Lions Society in Bern.

For a long time Schöpf was considered to be the author of a handwritten description and a wall map of the Bernese national territory, which was available as a manuscript in 1577 and was only printed in copperplate after his death in 1578. A second print was published in 1672 by Albrecht Meyer in Bern. The mean scale is 1: 115,000. The map was sponsored by the Bernese authorities, but it was not created on their behalf. In addition to that by Jos Murer , it is the most important regional map of the 16th century in Switzerland. It remained the best map of the Bern area until the end of the 18th century. It also served the Bernese city architect Joseph Plepp as the basis for his map of the Bernese national territory from 1638.

Schöpf died of the plague on June 16, 1577 in Bern . His will was confirmed on September 16, 1577.

Description of the country and map of the state of Bern, 1577–1578

The map

Digitized map of the 1st printing Strasbourg, Bernhard Jobin, 1578; Colored copy AA 1759 of the State Archives of the Canton of Bern, in plate 7 with the author's Latin dedication text to the Bern Council with the date “pridie Calend. Septemb. anni MDLXXVII »(August 31, 1577).

Digitized map of the 2nd print by Albrecht Meyer, Bern 1672, online copy of the University Library of Basel.

List of known copies: 6 copies of the first print from 1578 and 15 copies of the second print from 1672.

  • The map is oriented to the south and is based on a longitudinal, normal-axis cylindrical projection. "Overall, the planimetric accuracy of the scoop card is of high quality".
  • Map and description are closely linked: distance information in hours and minutes between the individual locations; they were measured on the card and entered in the text of the chorography .
and display information about the image
Sheets 1-3 (of 18), 2nd printing, Bern 1672, copy from Basel University Library, heavily colored.

The country description (chorography)

Digitized version of the original manuscript in the State Archives of the Canton of Bern: Volume 1. Volume 2.

German translation by Theresa Rothfuß, digitally available on the website of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Modern Latin Studies in Innsbruck.

  • The original manuscript from 1577 remained in the Bernese archive and served the state administration. It is only written off in excerpts from 1600 onwards, more often not until after 1640.
  • With its abundance of names, chorography can be described as a work based on names.

Schöpf's dubious authorship

Thomas Schöpf is named as the author in the handwritten description of the country, the chorographia from 1577 and in the large-format printed wall map of the city of Bern from 1578. Thorough archival research shows, however, that although Schöpf gave his name to this company, he was the front man for a project whose originators should remain hidden.

The historian Anne-Marie Dubler researched the family and professional life circumstances of Thomas Schöpf as the city doctor of Bern from 1565 until his death in 1577, as well as his family and professional career from Breisach via Basel and Colmar to Bern with archive studies. She notes that as a Breisacher in Bern, Schöpf neither had the local knowledge nor, as a busy doctor, had the time to write a two-volume description of the Bernese state and to organize the production of a large-format map in addition to his strenuous job in times of plague epidemics Bernese national territory, which at that time stretched from Geneva to Brugg and from the southern foot of the Jura to the high Alps.

Anne-Marie Dubler names General Niklaus Zurkinden (1506–1588) as the author hiding behind the academic Schöpf. He must have written the text of the description of the country (called chorography) in Latin and organized the production of the map. As councilor and former general commissioner of the Vaud region, which was captured in 1536, he had access to the vault , the Bernese archive and all documents. He kept the company secret until the moment it was presentable. For this oldest description of the Bernese country, he obtained the detailed lists of the administrative offices, the lordships and bailiwicks with their settlements and villages, always with the militarily important marching times to the local centers. This information is based on his historical and topographical knowledge of the country and on his free access to the Bernese archive. The first volume of text, also under the name of Schöpf, is preceded by a political foreword in Latin, in which, as an Erasmian, he reveals his peacemaking way of thinking. Schöpf's son-in-law Jakob Bucher (1543–1616), at that time council clerk of Bern and since 1569 married to Schöpf's daughter from his first marriage, Anna (1548 to after 1600), served as the writer of the chorography. This involvement of relatives in the company made it easier to maintain secrecy.

Thomas Schöpf's brother-in-law, the map publisher Adelbert Sauracker (born before 1528–1592) in Basel was involved from the start. He was interested in copperplate printing a map of the state of Bern that he wanted to put on the market. Sauracker and Zurkinden came to an understanding with each other through Thomas Schöpf when he took office in Bern.

The artist, draftsman and visor Martin Krumm (1540–1577), Bernburger, married to Zurkinden's daughter Eva, performed the work. He was entrusted with the preparatory work and the production of sketches, as well as with the illustration of the two text volumes, but died before the work was completed and was replaced by Mathys Walther.

In the summer of 1576 the matter was brought to the council. The latter approved the publication of the map on August 3, its financing on September 26, 1576 and the residence permit for the copper engraver Johannes Martin from Deventer on December 17, 1576 as well as the choice of the printer Bernhard Jobin in Strasbourg. Schöpf did not see the completion of the work, but died on June 16, 1577. The first print is dated August 31, 1577. After the printing in Strasbourg was completed, the official copy of the wall map was presented to a council committee in Bern in February 1578, and stored in the archive. At the same time, further printing and sales were stopped. The Bern Council compensated those involved, had the copper plates picked up and placed in the archive in Bern, where they were used 100 years later for the second print.

plant

  • Inclitae Bernatum urbis, cum omni ditionis suae agro et provinciis delineatio chorographica. 9 sheets of 2 printing plates each. Drawn and engraved in copper by the painters Martin Krumm from Bern and Johann Martin from Deventer, published with the assistance of Adelbert Saueracher in Basel and printed by Bernhard Jobin in Strasbourg, 1578; 2. Print by Albrecht Meyer, Bern 1672 DOI: 10.3931 / e-rara-14060 .

literature

  • Anne-Marie Dubler : Living and dying in Bern at the time of the city doctor Thomas Schöpf (1520-1577), a picture of the times and morals from the Reformed Bern of the early modern period ; ( Berner Zeitschrift für Geschichte , vol. 82 No. 2, 2020), 199 pages, ill .; ISSN  0005-9420
  • Kaspar von Greyerz : The late city reformation in Germany: the case of Colmar 1522–1628. Wiesbaden 1980, ISBN 3-515-02997-4 .
  • Georges Grosjean : Map of the Bernese national territory from 1577/78 by Thomas Schoepf. Dietikon 1970–1972.
  • Heinz E. Herzig : Thomas Schoepf's "tabula arctographica" as a contribution to Bern's self-image . In: Bern journal for history and local history. ISSN  0005-9420 , Vol. 54 (1992), H. 4, pp. 164-172 ( digitized version ).
  • Martin Korenjak : Inclitae Bernatum urbis delineatio chorographica - the text to Thomas Schoepf's map of the Bernese territory (1578). In: Cartographica Helvetica. Vol. 47 (2013), pp. 27-36 ( digitized version ).
  • Peter H. Meurer : Fontes cartographici Orteliani: the "Theatrum orbis terrarum" by Abraham Ortelius and his map sources. Weinheim 1991, ISBN 3-527-17727-2 .
  • Theresa Rothfuss: Thomas Schöpf: "Inclytae Bernatum Vrbis cum omni ditionis suae agro et provinciis delineatio choro-graphica" (translation of Thomas Schöpf's two-volume chorographic outline of the famous city of Bern including all the area under her rule and its administrative districts from 1577 from Latin in the German language; online ).
  • Thomas Schöpf: The Schöpf map of the Bernese national territory from 1578 , Ed .: Michael Schläfli and Hans-Uli Feldmann; ( Cartographica Helvetica No. 60, 2020; ISSN  1015-8480 ); 71 p., Ill. with many illustrations: map sheets 8–9 in original scale as cover; Center pages 36–37 with illustrations of the entire scooping map of the 2nd edition from 1672, reduced to approx. 1: 5.
  • Alfred Zesiger: The room at the red / guldinen Mittlen-Löwen. A look back at the history of the first five centuries. For the inauguration of the new guild room in the Falken on March 10, 1908 , Bern 1908.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Zesiger 1908, p. 178.
  2. ↑ Inclitae Bernatum Urbis delineatio chorographica (commentary on the map of the state of Bern) Volume 1: German Vogteien Volume 2: Welsche Vogteien
  3. ↑ Markus Oehrli: Planimetric accuracy of the scoop card . - In: Thomas Schöpf: The Schöpfkarte des Bernese national territory from 1578 , Ed .: Michael Schläfli and Hans-Uli Feldmann; Cartographica Helvetica No. 60, 2020, pp. 57-60, especially Table 1, p. 58
  4. ^ AA 1759 Bern in the catalog of the Bern State Archives .
  5. ↑ Inclitae Bernatum urbis, cum omni ditionis suae agro et provinciis delineatio chorographica: secundum cuiusque loci justiorem longitudinem et latitudinem coeli: gratia privilegioque caesareo / authore Thoma Schepfio Bris doctore medico; Bernae Nuitonum pingebant, et exaesis tÿpis aeneis exsculpebant, Martinus Krumm Bernensis et Johannes Martin Dauentriensis, ambo pictores; adiuvate Adelbergo Sauracker cive Basiliensi verò cura Bernhardi Jobini 2nd print by Albrecht Meyer, 1672 . 1672, doi : 10.3931 / e-rara-14060 ( e-rara.ch [accessed on July 28, 2020]).
  6. ↑ Michael Schläfli and Martin Koller: Variations of a wall map . - In: Thomas Schöpf: The Schöpfkarte des Bernese national territory from 1578 , Ed .: Michael Schläfli and Hans-Uli Feldmann; ( Cartographica Helvetica No. 60, 2020), p. 4–8, and tables p. 5 and 6.
  7. ↑ Markus Oehrli: Planimetric accuracy of the scoop card . - In: Thomas Schöpf: The Schöpfkarte des Bernese national territory from 1578 , Ed .: Michael Schläfli and Hans-Uli Feldmann; Cartographica Helvetica No. 60, 2020, pp. 57-60, especially p. 59.
  8. ↑ Hans-Rudolf Egli: On the relationship between chorography and first printing of the Schöpfkarte . - In: Thomas Schöpf: The Schöpfkarte des Bernese national territory from 1578 , Ed .: Michael Schläfli and Hans-Uli Feldmann; Cartographica Helvetica No. 60, 2020, pp. 28–33.
  9. ↑ scooping Thomas: Inclitae Bernatum Urbis delineatio chorographica (handwritten description of the map of the state of Bern) Volume 1: German bailiwicks. 1577, Retrieved July 28, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Schöpf Thomas: Inclitae Bernatum Urbis delineatio chorographica (handwritten description of the map of the state of Bern) Volume 2: Welsche Vogteien. 1577, Retrieved July 28, 2020 .
  11. ↑ "Chorographic outline of the famous city of Bern including all the area under its rule and its administrative districts": overview page in Internet Archive, as of November 30, 2017
  12. ↑ Florian Mittenhuber: Handwritten basics of the text witnesses of the chorography and their copies 1580-1790 . - In: Thomas Schöpf: The Schöpfkarte des Bernese national territory from 1578 , Ed .: Michael Schläfli and Hans-Uli Feldmann; Cartographica Helvetica No. 60, 2020; Pp. 9–16, especially pp. 5–6 lists of provenances.
  13. ^ Thomas Franz Schneider and Luzius Thöny: Interpretations of place names in chorography . - In: Thomas Schöpf: The Schöpfkarte des Bernese national territory from 1578 , Ed .: Michael Schläfli and Hans-Uli Feldmann; Cartographica Helvetica No. 60, 2020, pp. 61–65.
  14. ^ Anne-Marie Dubler : Living and dying in Bern at the time of the city doctor Thomas Schöpf (1520-1577), a picture of the times and morals from the Reformed Bern of the early modern period ; ( Berner Zeitschrift für Geschichte , Vol. 82 No. 2, 2020), 199 p., Ill., Esp. Pp. 108–116, 128, 131–142 and 175–177; ISSN  0005-9420
personal data
SURNAME Schöpf, Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss doctor, city physician of Bern and cartographer
DATE OF BIRTH 1520
PLACE OF BIRTH uncertain: Breisach
DATE OF DEATH 1577
Place of death Bern