1150 Das Fünffte Buch / Steyrmarck.

Title

1150 Das Fünffte Buch / Steyrmarck.

Top left: the Styrian coat of arms, which features the Styrian Panther on a green background. Below is an image of a resident from Styria with a goiter on their neck. The description of the image and the back side contain German text.

ca. 1550

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

Styria is one of the nine federal states of the Republic of Austria. Its capital is Graz, which followed by Leoben, Kapfenberg, Bruck an der Mur and Feldbach is also by far the largest city in Styria by population. Originally, the area was settled by Celtic people. In the 6th century Slavs from the east settled here. Around the middle of the 8th century they asked the Bavarian Duke Odilo for support in the fight against the Avars. The Bavarians were victorious and from then on lived side by side with the Slavs on the Styrian territory. In 1180, Styria was elevated to a duchy under the Traungau dynasty and the feudal ties to the Duchy of Bavaria and the Duchy of Carinthia were severed. In 1282 the Duchy of Styria, together with the Duchy of Austria, passed to the noble House of Habsburg. In the course of the Habsburg inheritance divisions, Styria became the central part of Inner Austria (with the residence in Graz).