Sebastian Munster:  Frankfurt an der Oder . . . 1548

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Title: Frankfurt an der Oder . . . 1548

Map Maker: Sebastian Munster

Description:

Striking view of Frankfurt an der Oder, from Munster's Cosmographia, first published in 1544.

Interesting woodblock view of the medieval town of Frankfurt an der Oder, in Brandenburg. This town lies on the Oder River, on the modern border between Germany and Poland. Individual landmarks and buildings are named as well as farms and other points of interest in the surrounding countryside.  

Munster's Geographia (first published in 1540) and his later Cosmographia were cartographic landmarks. The Geographia included not only Ptolemaic maps, but also a number of landmark modern maps, including the first separate maps of the 4 continents, the first map of England and the earliest obtainable map of Scandinavia. The Cosmographia (first published in 1544) was the earliest German description of the world and a major work in the revival of geographic thought in 16th-century Europe. Altogether, about 40 editions of the Cosmographia appeared between 1544 and 1628.

Munster dominated cartographic publication during the mid-16th Century. Munster is generally regarded as one of the important map makers of the 16th Century. Munster was a linguist and mathematician, who initially taught Hebrew in Heidelberg. He issued his first mapping of Germany in 1529, after which he issued a call geographical information about Germany to scholars throughout the country. The response was better than hoped for, and included substantial foreign material, which supplied him with up to date, if not necessarily accurate maps for the issuance of his Geographia in 1540.

Related Categories:
City Plans & Views of European Cities
Maps of Germany