Von dem Teutschen Landt. Contrafehtung der Statt Nürnberg.

Title

Von dem Teutschen Landt. Contrafehtung der Statt Nürnberg.

Description

Depiction of the city of Nuremberg around 1550 in Franconia. The coat of arms of Nuremberg below.

ca. 1550

Artist

Münster (1489-1552)

Sebastian Münsters (1489-1552) is one of the famous cosmographers of the Renaissance. Its real importance in the field of cartography is based on its famous cosmography, which he published in 1544 with 24 double-sided maps (including Moscow and Transylvania). The material for this came largely from research and the collection of information from around 1528, which he initially only wanted to use for a description of Germany, but was now sufficient for a map of the entire world and ultimately led to a cosmography. He constantly tried to improve this work, i.e. to replace or add to maps. In the edition of 1550, only 14 maps were taken over from the earlier editions. The 52 maps printed in the text were also only partially based on the old maps. The great success of this cosmography was also based on the precise work of the woodcuts mostly by Hans Holbein the Younger, Urs Graf, Hans Rudolph Deutsch and David Kandel. It was the first scientific and at the same time generally understandable description of the knowledge of the world in German, in which the basics of history and geography, astronomy and natural sciences, regional and folklore were summarized according to the state of knowledge at that time. Cosmography is the science of describing the earth and the universe. Until the late Middle Ages, geography, geology and astronomy were also part of it. The first edition of the Cosmographia took place in 1544 in German, printed in Heinrich Petri's office in Basel. Heinrich Petri was a son from the first marriage of Münster's wife to the Basel printer Adam Petri. Over half of all editions up to 1628 were also published in German. However, the work has also been published in Latin, French, Czech and Italian. The English editions all comprised only a part of the complete work. Viktor Hantzsch identified a total of 46 editions in 1898 (German 27; Latin 8; French 3; Italian 3; Czech 1) that appeared from 1544 to 1650, while Karl Heinz Burmeister only had 36 (German 21; Latin 5; French 6; Italian 3; Czech 1) that appeared between 1544 and 1628. The first edition from 1544 was followed by the second edition in 1545, the third in 1546, the fourth edition in 1548 and the fifth edition in 1550, each supplemented by new reports and details, text images, city views and maps and revised altogether. Little has been known about who - apart from the book printers Heinrich Petri and Sebastian Henricpetri - were responsible for the new editions after Münster's death. The 1628 edition was edited and expanded by the Basel theologian Wolfgang Meyer. With Cosmographia, Sebastian Münster has published for the first time a joint work by learned historians and artists, by publishers, wood cutters and engravers. The numerous vedute are usually made as woodcuts. Sebastian Münster obtained his knowledge from the travel reports and stories of various scholars, geographers, cartographers and sea travelers. Long after his death, "Kosmographie" was still a popular work with large editions: 27 German, 8 Latin, 3 French, 4 English and even 1 Czech editions appeared. The last edition appeared in Basel in 1650.

Historical Description

Nuremberg is an independent city in the administrative district of Middle Franconia in the Free State of Bavaria. When the city was founded is not handed down, it could have been between 1000 and 1040 in the course of securing the border area between Saxony, Bavaria, East Franconia and Bohemia at the intersection of important roads. With the Great Letter of Freedom, King Frederick II made Nuremberg a Free Imperial City in 1219. Many emperors liked to choose Nuremberg as their place of residence, including Charles IV, who issued the Golden Bull in Nuremberg in 1356. In 1423, King Sigismund gave the imperial regalia to the city, which kept them until the beginning of the 19th century. The years between 1470 and 1530 are generally considered the city's heyday - despite recurring feuds and conflicts with knights such as Götz von Berlichingen and Conz Schott von Schottenstein, which were, however, stopped after 1512 by the army of the Franconian Imperial Circle. Many emperors liked to choose Nuremberg as a place to stay, including Charles IV, who issued the Golden Bull in Nuremberg in 1356. In 1423, King Sigismund gave the imperial regalia to the city, which kept them until the beginning of the 19th century. The years between 1470 and 1530 are generally considered the city's heyday - despite recurring feuds and conflicts with knights such as Götz von Berlichingen and Conz Schott von Schottenstein, which were, however, stopped after 1512 by the army of the Franconian Imperial Circle. The wealth of the city came from the excellent craftsmanship as well as the favorable location as a trading center in the middle of Europe. During the Thirty Years' War, the area around Nuremberg was the scene of a war of position between the warring parties that lasted for several years. In 1792, the Kunstverein Nuremberg, Germany's first art association, was founded. From 1796 to 1806, after pressure from the Prussian administration in neighboring Ansbach, Nuremberg finally submitted to Prussian rule. The treaty was not executed because Prussia was deterred by Nuremberg's debts. In 1803, Nuremberg nevertheless initially continued to remain independent until French troops occupied Nuremberg after the signing of the Treaty of the Confederation of the Rhine and the end of the Old Empire.In 1806, the French army finally handed the city over to the Kingdom of Bavaria, which immediately installed a civil administration and administratively incorporated the city into the kingdom. In 1806, the Kingdom of Bavaria took over the exorbitant debts of the Imperial City of Nuremberg as part of the overall Bavarian national debt and thus ensured their consolidation and repayment. With Count Montgelas in 1817, Nuremberg again received its own magistrate and mayor in May 1818.