Von dem Teutschen Landt. Von den Stetten Wirtenbergerlands.

  • Translation

Article ID EUD4189

Title

Von dem Teutschen Landt. Von den Stetten Wirtenbergerlands.

Description

View of the coat of arm of Thuringen in Baden Würtemberg, Germany and a portrait of Johannis Stöfflers a German mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, priest, maker of astronomical instruments and professor at the University of Tübingen. On reverse grapevine and a view of Bad Wildbad in the black forest.

Year

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

Baden-Wuertemberg is a state in southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the border with France. It is is formed from the historical territories of Baden, Prussian Hohenzollern, and Württemberg, and also parts of Swabia. Baden Würtemberg was only founded in 1952 by the merger of the states of Württemberg-Baden, Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern. Today the most populous city of Baden-Württemberg is the state capital Stuttgart, followed by Karlsruhe and Mannheim. Other major cities are Freiburg im Breisgau, Heidelberg, Ulm, Heilbronn, Pforzheim and Reutlingen. The early modern period was marked by the Reformation and the expansion efforts of the emerging states of Austria, Prussia, France and Sweden. Conflicts such as the Peasant War, the Thirty Years' War and the Palatinate War of Succession resulted from these. One of the focal points of the fighting, with corresponding consequences for the population and the economy, was in what is today Baden-Württemberg, which remained extremely fragmented territorially. At the beginning of the 19th century, around 300 states still had territorial rights in what is now Baden-Württemberg, but their number was reduced to four after the dissolution of the Old Empire. The Kingdom of Württemberg and the Grand Duchy of Baden were among the winners of the coalition wars. The two principalities of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Hohenzollern-Hechingen survived mediatization due to their special relationship with Napoléon. In 1849, the Baden Revolution was put down by Prussian intervention forces, the Baden army was dissolved and rebuilt under Prussian leadership. In 1850 the two Hohenzollern states became the Prussian province of Hohenzollernsche Lande. With the new formation of the tribal duchies, the southern areas of what is now the state of Baden-Württemberg belonged to the Duchy of Swabia until the end of the High Middle Ages, the northern areas were located with the Duchy of Franconia.

Place of Publication Basle
Dimensions (cm)27,5 x 17 cm
ConditionPerfect condition
Coloringoriginal colored
TechniqueWoodcut

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