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Finely colored example of Braun & Hogenberg's engraving divided into two distinct views, one depicting the city of Soest and the other Warborch (now known as Warburg), both located in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Each view is richly detailed, highlighting the architectural and topographical features of these historic towns, while the inclusion of coats of arms adds a layer of heraldic significance to the depiction.
The upper section of the engraving presents a view of Soest, a city with deep historical roots that extend back to the early medieval period. By the 10th century, Soest had become a significant urban center within the Holy Roman Empire, largely due to its strategic location and its fertile surrounding lands. The view captures the fortified city with its prominent churches, including the distinctive Romanesque St. Patrokli Cathedral, a symbol of Soest's ecclesiastical power and its role as a religious hub.
The coat of arms displayed prominently in the top left corner of the view underlines Soest's autonomy and its rich history as a member of the Hanseatic League, a powerful economic and defensive alliance of merchant guilds and market towns in Northwestern and Central Europe. The landscape surrounding the city reflects its agrarian economy, with fields and windmills dotting the countryside, indicative of the region's agricultural productivity.
By the late 16th century, Soest was an important regional center, yet it was also a city in decline. The Reformation had caused significant religious and social upheaval, and the once-thriving trade routes that connected Soest to other Hanseatic cities had shifted. The engraving captures the city at a moment of both historical importance and impending change, as it navigated the challenges of the early modern period.
The lower section of the engraving depicts Warborch (modern-day Warburg), another historic town with roots tracing back to the Carolingian era. Warburg’s strategic location along the Diemel River made it a critical defensive site and a key player in regional trade during the medieval period. The engraving emphasizes the town's fortified nature, with its walls, towers, and the imposing castle dominating the landscape.
Warburg was a center of regional power and authority, reflected in its coat of arms, which is prominently displayed in the upper left corner of the Warborch view. The town's prosperity in the late Middle Ages was closely tied to its role in local governance and its connection to the Bishopric of Paderborn, under whose jurisdiction it fell. The detailed representation of Warburg in Braun & Hogenberg's work highlights the town's importance as a defensive stronghold and a center of economic activity.
Up until the 1600s, Warburg maintained its relevance in the region, though like Soest, it faced the economic and political challenges of the Reformation and the shifting power dynamics within the Holy Roman Empire. The engraving captures Warburg at a time when it was still a vibrant and fortified town, poised at the edge of the transformative events that would soon reshape the German lands.
Civitates Orbis Terrarum: The Greatest City Book
Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg began the process of creating a comprehensive atlas of the cities of the world in 1572. Their book, Civitates Orbis Terrarum, was originally intended as a companion to Abraham Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first true atlas.
The great atlas was edited by Georg Braun, with Franz Hogenberg engraving many of the views. When the project was finished, the series would contain over 546 views (sometimes with multiple views on a single plate).
Civitates Orbis Terrarum includes the work of over 100 artists and topographers, perhaps most notable among them was the superlative talent of Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600). He provided original drawings of Spanish and Italian towns, as well as reworking and improving the town drawings of other artists. After Joris's death, his son Jakob continued the project.
The Civitates provides an incredibly comprehensive view of urban life in the late 16th century. Many of the views in these volumes are the earliest of their respective towns -- either absolutely, or they are predated only by impossible rarities, as in the case of London. Cities portrayed range from the great capitals of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas to small Swiss hamlets and other tiny villages. As such, this singular and indispensable source for understanding the early modern world.
The work was published in six volumes, each of which contained approximately sixty plates. The subject matter of each plate varied widely, it could provide a single view of a city, two views of the same city, or views of up to nine different cities. The range of designs is extensive, and it is interesting to compare the variety between views of the same city by two different authors.
Georg Braun (1541-1622) was born and died in Cologne. His primary vocation was as Catholic cleric; he spent thirty-seven years as canon and dean at the church St. Maria ad Gradus, in Cologne. Braun was the chief editor of the Civitates orbis terrarum, the greatest book of town views ever published. His job entailed hiring artists, acquiring source material for the maps and views, and writing the text. In this role, he was assisted by Abraham Ortelius. Braun lived into his 80s, and he was the only member of the original team to witness the publication of the sixth volume in 1617.
Frans Hogenberg (ca. 1540-ca. 1590) was a Flemish and German engraver and mapmaker who also painted. He was born in Mechelen, south of Antwerp, the son of wood engraver and etcher Nicolas Hogenberg. Together with his father, brother (Remigius), uncle, and cousins, Frans was one member of a prominent artistic family in the Netherlands.
During the 1550s, Frans worked in Antwerp with the famous mapmaker Abraham Ortelius. There, he engraved the maps for Ortelius’ groundbreaking first atlas, published in Antwerp in 1570, along with Johannes van Deotecum and Ambrosius and Ferdinand Arsenius. It is suspected he engraved the title page as well. Later, Ortelius supported Hogenberg with information for a different project, the Civitates orbis terrarium (edited by Georg Braun, engraved by Hogenberg, published in six volumes, Cologne, 1572-1617). Hogenberg engraved the majority of the work’s 546 prospects and views.
It is possible that Frans spent some time in England while fleeing from religious persecution, but he was living and working in Cologne by 1580. That is the city where he died around 1590. In addition to his maps, he is known for his historical allegories and portraits. His brother, Remigius, also went on to some fame as an engraver, and he died around the same time as his brother.
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