Wiener Neustädter baseline

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1. Base end point north in Wiener Neustadt ( Liesganigstein ) ( location )

The Wiener Neustadt baseline was a baseline for the Austrian land survey in the flat Steinfeld between the cities of Wiener Neustadt and Neunkirchen in Lower Austria . By Translozierungen (transfers to other places) of the first and second base endpoint North distances with 6410 and 5000 fathoms (corresponding to approximately 12.15 or 9.48 km), only approximately determined.

The baseline is still reflected on today's road maps: The 15 km long Neunkirchner Allee from Wiener Neustadt in a south-west direction to Neunkirchen is the longest straight stretch of road in Austria. The road was built in the aisle that was cut into the Föhrenwald for sighting and establishing the baseline. In order to break the dangerous monotony for motor vehicle drivers on a good roadway, a traffic light crossing was replaced by a roundabout around 2000/2005.

1st measurement, 1762

On the right the Jesuit monastery including the Stöckl building and observatory tower, painting by Bernardo Bellotto , around 1760
2. Base end point north in Wiener Neustadt ( location )
Base end point south in Neunkirchen ( location )

In 1759 the Empress Maria Theresa (1717–1780) commissioned the Jesuit priest and astronomer Joseph Liesganig (1719–1799) to triangulate the Austro-Hungarian monarchy for the Josephinian land survey . It was supposed to determine the length of the meridian arc between the two cities Brno and Varaždin , the angular difference in the geographical latitude of which was known from astronomical measurements, and thus make a contribution to determining the shape of the earth and the flattening at the poles. In order to be able to determine the length of the meridian arc between the two end points, a triangular chain was created between Brno and Varaždin. To determine the scale in the triangles, it was necessary to know the length of at least one side of the triangle. In 1762 Liesganig began the necessary basic measurement , the Wiener Neustädter baseline, in the flat stone field of Lower Austria . Liesganig used four wooden measuring rods each six Viennese fathoms (around 11.4 meters) long. By lining up these measuring rods, a length of around twelve kilometers was measured. In order to use wood that was as dry as possible, Liesganig took the same from the roof structure of his religious house in Postgasse in Vienna's Inner City and provided the rods with three oil paints and brass end fittings. A fifth rod was used as a comparator (normal) for the measuring rods. Specially built huts served as protection for the poles from the rain. The line ran from Wiener Neustadt to Neunkirchen and is now parallel to the dead straight Neunkirchner Allee that was built later .

The monument at the northern end of this baseline in Wiener Neustadt, which was moved to a green area in 1954 for traffic reasons, has been preserved as a memorial ( Liesganigstein ). A second northern monument was erected in 1857 by the Kuk Military Geography Institute and repaired in 1928 and 1967 by the Federal Office for Metrology and Surveying . The southern end point of the basic measurement near Neunkirchen was marked with a memorial column until 1856, which was then removed and replaced by a stone pyramid, which should come close to the original appearance of the geodetic fixed point . The Wiener Neustädter baseline thus has three monuments, two in Wiener Neustadt and one in Neunkirchen.

Liesganig measured another base in Marchfeld in 1763 . The length of the base was transferred to the neighboring sides of the triangle by angle measurements via a base development network. This enabled further points to be connected via triangles. For the storage of the network, an astronomical location determination, the measurement of the geographical latitude and longitude of the observatory of the Jesuit College in the complex of the Old University in Postgasse in Vienna, was carried out. The orientation of the network was done by measuring the astronomical azimuth to Leopoldsberg .

  • Title page of the book by Liesganig, 1770

  • Results of the location determination

  • Instruments for surveying

  • Triangulation (the baseline in the center of the image)

Austrian regional recordings

In the Seven Years War (1756–1763) the lack of reliable maps had proven to be a military disadvantage. After the Empress Maria Theresa had given the approval beforehand, the court war council issued the corresponding orders for the 1st land registration on May 13, 1764 . The 1. Landesaufnahme (1764–1787) was a first work. The positions required for the measuring table recordings of the individual map sheets were created without uniform geodetic bases. The first survey of the country took place without a uniform triangular network , consisted only of partial networks, without any connection, with the help of the Bussole . The sub-areas were graphically triangulated using a measuring table from small to large, instead of the other way around.

Emperor Franz II ordered the 2nd land survey (1806–1869) for a comprehensive uniform map series . It was a triangulation started to create points in a single system. The Astronomical-Trigonometric Department in the Quartermaster General's staff was entrusted with the work. In addition to the mapping corps and the topographic institute, a triangulation directorate was set up under the direction of Colonel Franz Xaver Richter von Binnenthal (1768-1840) and later with Colonel Ludwig August von Fallon (1776-1828). The first military triangulation (1806–1839) that was applied was, however, only a first attempt because the existing instruments and the methods used did not provide the expected accuracy. With the 2nd military triangulation (1839–1863) a new beginning was therefore made with more precise surveying instruments.

The Central European degree measurement (1863–1901) led to a significant expansion of the work and to lively international cooperation. After the World War (1914–1918), the central European degree measurement network was adopted, redesigned and further consolidated during the neutrangulation (1910–1958).

2nd measurement, 1806

The base near Wiener Neustadt was taken over unchanged during the triangulation work of the 1st military triangulation that began in 1806 with the length determined by Liesganig. Two further baselines were measured at the city of Wels in Upper Austria and at Raab / Győr . These measurements were made with a basic measuring device made by the Viennese mechanic Sadtler. With the best instruments available at the time, a triangular chain from Salzburg to Suczawa in Bukowina in east-west and two triangular chains in north-south were measured through the Vienna and Tokay (Hungary) meridians. Astronomical measurements were also carried out at several points in the network in order to check the geodetic work with regard to positioning and orientation. The coalition wars (1792-1815) affected Austria as an ally from 1792 onwards. The work was severely affected by this and the measurements were only progressing very slowly, as the officers designated for the work had to do military service. In 1806 Napoleon imposed an economic blockade on the British Isles ( continental blockade ), which remained in force until 1814, creating much-needed excellent British measuring instruments, e.g. B. from Troughton, were not allowed to be introduced.

In 1828, with the death of Major General August von Fallon, head of the Triangulation Directorate, the work of the 1st Military Triangulation came to a standstill.

3rd measurement, 1857

In 1839, after the topographical institutes of Milan and Vienna had been merged to form the Military Geographic Institute, work on the 2nd military triangulation began under the direction of Major General Campana Ritter von Splügenberg (1776–1841). After the older work was considered unsatisfactory, the first order network was re-measured and redesigned. Six base lines, the base at Hall in Tirol in 1851 and the shortened base at Wiener Neustadt and ten astronomical orientations were measured. 1851 at Lanserkopf near Innsbruck , 1852 at Kummenberg in Vorarlberg , 1857 in Innsbruck, 1859 in Klagenfurt . In addition to the triangulation work in Tyrol and Vorarlberg and from Klagenfurt to Fiume , work outside of Austria in the Papal States and in Tuscany, in Transylvania and Hungary, and the connection triangulation from Austria to Russia were carried out. See also the Struve arch (1816–1852), which was measured by Wilhelm von Struve (1793–1864) and Carl Tenner (1783–1859) with a double triangular chain. The 2nd military triangulation was not completed because from 1862 onwards, significantly stricter guidelines and accuracy requirements were created in connection with the degree measurement work within the framework of the Central European degree measurement.

The baseline at Wiener Neustadt, set by Liesganig at 6410 Vienna fathoms, was probably shortened to 5000 Vienna fathoms in 1857, because the urban development obstructed the line of sight to and from the east at the first base end point, North Liesganigstein. A second base end point North with a shortened base was therefore specified. This second base endpoint North at the Wiener Neustadt Street B 17 north of the node Wiener Neustadt ( south motorway A2 to Mattersburg expressway S 4) was added in the construction of the motorway in the 20th century and moved. The base end point south in Neunkirchen was retained and is still at the original location by Liesganig.

literature

  • Joseph Liesganig: Dimensio Graduum Meridiani Viennensis Et Hungarici . University of Vienna, 1770.
  • Josef Zeger: The historical development of state surveying work (basic measurements) in Austria.
    • Volume 1. Various works from antiquity to the First World War. Vienna 1992.
    • Volume 2. Triangulations for Cadastral Purposes. Vienna 1991.
    • Volume 3rd degree measurement. Vienna 1992.
    • Volume 4. Neutrangulation. Part 1. Sections 1 - 12. Vienna 1993.
    • Volume 4. Neutrangulation. Part 2. Sections 13 - 46. Vienna 1993.
    • Volume 5. Precision leveling.
  • Gerhard Geissl: Joseph Liesganig. The Viennese meridian measurement and his work in the area of ​​Wiener Neustadt. Documentation, brochure, Industrieviertel Museum , Wiener Neustadt 2001.
  • The art monuments of Austria. Dehio Lower Austria south of the Danube 2003 . Wiener Neustadt, Small Monuments, Liesganigstein, page 2681.
  • Hans Fröhlich : From mountain to mountain. How Europe was measured. Self-published, 2012.
  • Meridian or Liesgangigsäule = 1st base end point north, monolith near the Autobahn = 2nd base end point north, southern monolith near Neunkirchen = base end point south. Pp. 124-126. In: Gerhard Geissl: Monuments in Wiener Neustadt. Places of remembrance. Kral Verlag, Berndorf 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-167-7 .
  • Erich Imrek: Geodetic basics as a prerequisite for land surveys. Federal Office for Metrology and Surveying, Vienna 2015.

Web links

Commons : Wiener Neustädter Grundlinie  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wiener Neustädter Basis by Harald Hartmann
  2. ↑ Year at the second base end point north (Wiener Neustadt) as 1857