Accurata Grundris und Prospect der Weltberuhmten Hollandischen Haupt und Handels- Stadt Amsterdam

Title

Accurata Grundris und Prospect der Weltberuhmten Hollandischen Haupt und Handels- Stadt Amsterdam

Description

Map shows the city map of Amsterdam wit a beautyfull total view

ca. 1710

Artist

Homann (1664-1724)

Johann Babtiste Homann (1664-1724), Nuremberg, was born in Oberkammlach, the Electorate of Bavaria. Although educated at a Jesuit school, and preparing for an ecclesiastical career, he eventually converted to Protestantism and from 1687 worked as a civil law notary in Nuremberg. He soon turned to engraving and cartography; in 1702 he founded his own publishing house. Homann acquired renown as a leading German cartographer, and in 1715 was appointed Imperial Geographer by Emperor Charles VI. Giving such privileges to individuals was an added right that the Holy Roman Emperor enjoyed. In the same year he was also named a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin. Of particular significance to cartography were the imperial printing privileges (Latin: privilegia impressoria). These protected for a time the authors in all scientific fields such as printers, copper engravers, map makers and publishers. They were also very important as a recommendation for potential customers. In 1716 Homann published his masterpiece Grosser Atlas ueber die ganze Welt (Grand Atlas of all the World). Numerous maps were drawn up in cooperation with the engraver Christoph Weigel the Elder, who also published Siebmachers Wappenbuch. Homann died in Nuremberg. He was succeeded by the Homann heirs company, which was in business until 1848. The company was known as Homann Erben, Homanniani Heredes, or Heritiers de Homann abroad.

Historical Description

The name of the city derives from a dam with a lock in the Amstel River, built in the 13th century. Until the 13th century, most of the present province of Holland was poorly populated. It was a very wet area, consisting mainly of marshes and swamps, and was cut by several rivers. One of these rivers was the Amstel. Due to storm surges, the IJ had widened the mouth of the Amstel into a narrow, elongated bay. Around this, about 500 fishermen had settled in huts by 1230. Lords of the Amstelland around the river of the same name was the noble family van Amstel, they built new castle, the Kasteel van Amstel. Around 1270 they had the river, where it widened into a bay, cut off by the dam that gave it its name. The settlement is first mentioned in 1275 as "Amstelledamme". From this dam, the dike ran northward in curves on both sides of the bay, where today's Nieuwendijk and Warmoesstraat streets still run higher than their surroundings. The area could only be built on with houses and roads in the marshland with the help of countless piles as subsoil - driven up to 18 meters deep through the boggy soil into the firm sand. Fishing, initially the most important source of income, gradually gave way to trade, especially with dried or cured herring from the Swedish south coast and with beer from Hamburg, for which Amsterdam received an import monopoly in 1323. In 1347, locks were mentioned for the first time, which made the laborious transport of goods over the dam unnecessary by allowing ships to pass through with their masts down. Amsterdam was never a member of the Hanseatic League, with which there were trade conflicts and disputes over the passage through the Öresund, which was settled by compromise in 1441. New techniques (immediate gutting of fish while still on board) also made fishing in the North Sea more efficient. Salt and tropical fruits were imported from the Mediterranean. Amsterdam became a stacking and transhipment market and the goods were further processed, giving rise to production techniques, sciences, banking, insurance and printing. Since 1492 Jews from Spain came to Amsterdam, they became a part of the city and there were numerous synagogues. In 1621, the conflict with Spain broke out again during the Thirty Years' War and was formally ended only in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia, which brought international recognition of the Republic of the United Netherlands and at the same time its departure from the Holy Roman Empire. The annexation of Portugal by Spain in 1580 had forced the northern Netherlands to allow ships to sail to India themselves. The first voyages were made from Amsterdam and immediately led to great success. In 1602, the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) was founded, and in 1621, the Dutch West India Company was also established. In 1626, the VOC founded the city of Nieuw Amsterdam, which has been called New York since 1667. These trading companies turned the Republic into a global maritime and trading power, which, after the armistice with Spain in 1609, marked the beginning of the Dutch Golden Age. However, this success also led to rivalry with the great powers of England and France. Three Anglo-Dutch naval wars took place between 1652 and 1674, and in the Second Northern War the Netherlands had to defend its trading interests in the Baltic Sea at the same time. This was followed by falling prices, English competition overseas, damage to ships and wooden piles of dikes by the shipworm and subsequent flooding, and the rinderpest, which brought the export of cheese and butter to a standstill. This initiated Amsterdam's decline as a transhipment port for world trade and led to a change in economic structures by the end of the century. Amsterdam managed to become the financial center of the world - as a banker for European princes who used borrowed money to wage their costly wars. The city did not experience a new boom until the Noordzeekanaal was opened in 1876, giving Amsterdam a connection to the North Sea and thus to the United Kingdom and the United States (USA). Once again, Amsterdam became the center of cultural and scientific life, although economically it was gradually outstripped by Rotterdam, especially after the Second World War.