Schletstatt etwan ein dorff des beyligen Römischen Reichs / aber jetzundt ein zierliche statt.

Title

Schletstatt etwan ein dorff des beyligen Römischen Reichs / aber jetzundt ein zierliche statt.

General view of the town of Schlettstadt (Sèlestat) in Alsace.

ca. 1574

Artist

Münster (1489-1552)

Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) was a leading Renaissance cosmographer. His most famous work, the Cosmographia (1544), was a comprehensive description of the world with 24 maps, based on research dating back to 1528. Continuously revised, the 1550 edition already included many new maps. It was the first scientific yet accessible world description published in German, illustrated with numerous woodcuts by artists such as Hans Holbein the Younger. Between 1544 and 1650, the Cosmographia appeared in 46 editions (27 in German) and was translated into several languages. Münster’s work combined the knowledge of scholars, artists, and travelers and remained influential long after his death.

Historical Description

Alsace is a cultural and historical region in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. Politicaly the Alsace changed its borders from the 5th century AD tot he 19th century many times. From 1982 to 2016, Alsace was the smallest administrative région in metropolitan France, consisting of the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin departments. Territorial reform passed by the French legislature in 2014 resulted in the merger of the Alsace administrative region with Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine to form Grand Est.