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Sebastian Munster: Colmariensis civitatis & circumiacentis agri pictura ad vivum expressa
Title: Colmariensis civitatis & circumiacentis agri pictura ad vivum expressa Map Maker: Sebastian Munster
Description: Striking view of Colmar and vicinity, from Munster's Cosmographia, first published in 1544. Interesting woodblock view of Colmar in Alsatia on the Lauch River, the a part of Germany but currently a part of France. 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. Colmar was founded in the 9th century and granted the status of a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire in 1226. In 1575, the city adopted the Protestant Reformation, long after the northern neighbours of Strasbourg and Sélestat. During the Thirty Years' War, the city was taken by the armies of Sweden in 1632, who held it for two years. The city was conquered by France under Louis XIV in 1673. As part of the Treaties of Nijmegen in 1679, Colmar and all of Alsace were ceded to France. In 1871, along with the rest of Alsace, it was annexed by the newly formed German Empire in 1871 as a result of the Franco-Prussian War. It returned to France after World War I, was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1940, and then reverted to French control after the battle of the "Colmar Pocket" in 1945. 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.
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