Bird's eye view

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Bird's View Plan of Rome
(early 15th century)
Alerdinck Plan of Münster (1636)

Vogelschauplan is the name for a plan or a picture map that shows a city, landscape or sight from a bird's eye view, mostly true to detail. Birds show plans were made in the early 15th century. Today they represent rich sources of research.

description

Information board for tourists in Ravensburg with identification of the sights on the bird's eye view plan by Merian (1623)

Bird's-eye plans often depict entire cities or landscapes in an oblique view. The artists tried to achieve a true-to-scale and accurate representation and a realistic reproduction of even the smallest details of buildings, streets and squares. Preserved bird's-eye views are from the early 15th century. From when this term was used is unclear. The commissioners for the bird show were mostly wealthy rulers or nobles. The plans, initially produced as copper engravings , etchings or ink drawings in black and white, were partially colored by hand . In the 19th century they were also created as colored paintings such as the Vogelschauplan von Köln by Jakob Scheiner or as colored lithographs such as the Vogelschauplan von Basel by Johann Friedrich Mähly .

Many bird's-eye views have been lost over the centuries and only exist as reproductions. The few originals that have survived are now in the possession of museums , collections , libraries or archives .

Well-known bird scenes are often named after their creators, so

Importance and use

Today the bird's eye views are the subject of scientific research. For historians , urban archaeologists , geographers , sociologists and archivists , they are valuable sources of their work. They enable the localization of buildings, streets and watercourses that no longer exist, and the research and documentation of urban development and history. They can also contribute to the understanding of old place names and the descriptions of circumstances and customs that are mentioned in letters, treatises and council minutes from the time they were created. For example, it was only with the help of the Ulm bird's eye view that it became clear what was meant by the term “sand house” mentioned in old council minutes, what it looked like at that time and where it was. It was a small street-side extension to a residential building on the old market square, which was used to store sand . Still clearly visible on the bird's eye view plan from 1597, the building can no longer be found on later plans.

Even in the Middle Ages, bird's eye views were used to make it easier for travelers to find their way around a foreign city. This was especially true in larger cities such as Rome , which were visited by pilgrims who were often unable to read.

Today the city of Ravensburg uses a graphically processed reproduction of the bird's eye view by Matthäus Merian from the year 1623 with the sights highlighted in color on an information board for tourists. In its information brochures, the city ​​of Frankfurt am Main also uses color details from a Merian bird's eye view plan to identify the individual buildings under monument protection.

Well-known bird scenes (selection)

Vogelschauupplan von Basel by Johann Friedrich Mähly (1847)

literature

  • Alice Hecht: Presentation of historical garden and bird plans ... In: Leipzig in the map. Leipziger Universitätsverlag, Leipzig 2001, ISBN 978-3-935693-19-6 , p. 51 ( limited preview in Google book search)
  • Gert Kaster: The birds 'view maps of Tsingtao 1898–1912: The birds' view maps of Tsingtao 1898–1912 . ES Mittler, Hamburg (planned for October 2017), ISBN 978-3-8132-0972-3 .
  • Hans-Werner Klünner: Bird's eye view plans and views of Berlin: an edition of the most beautiful "bird's eye view" of the Berlin center: seven sheets, drawn and photographed between 1766 and 1992 . Bien & Giersch, Berlin 1994, ISBN 978-3-928710-17-6 .

Web links

Commons : Map series in bird's eye view  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Matthias: Basel Buildings. In: basler-bauten.ch. Retrieved March 28, 2017 .
  2. ^ Vogelschauplan, Joseph Daniel Huber (1769–1773) in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna