Wahre abcontrafehtung der Löblichen und alten Statt Solothurn/gelegen in der Eydtgnoschafft an der Aar.

Title

Wahre abcontrafehtung der Löblichen und alten Statt Solothurn/gelegen in der Eydtgnoschafft an der Aar.

Description

General view of the municipality of Solothurn in the canton of the same name in Switzerland. On the reverse the bones of S. Victor and a representation of the coat of arms.

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

During the 8th and 9th centuries Solothurn belonged to the administrative region Waldgau of the Frankish Empire under the Carolingians. In the 11th century, during the reign of the last Burgundian kings, numerous imperial days were held in Solothurn, while the Stefanskapelle served as a coronation site. Besides Lausanne and Zurich, Solothurn was the only larger city in the Mittelland. Due to the death of Count Rudolf of Rheinfelden in 1080, new noble families entered the country. Among them, the Zähringers were the most important. However, the Zähringers left the most lasting traces in Solothurn in terms of urban development. This Zähringian city wall formed the center of Solothurn life until the beginning of the 19th century. After the death of the last childless Zähringer, Solothurn, like Bern, was declared a free city in 1218 and henceforth had the status of an imperial city within the Holy Roman Empire. 1393 marked the beginning of Solothurn's time with the Confederates. It was not until a few decades later that Solothurn, along with Fribourg, joined the Confederation in 1481, although from then on they became second-tier cities. Until 1513, other towns were added and together then formed the thirteen old towns. Due to the innovations in the art of war, Solothurn's fortifications had to be strengthened and the cityscape increasingly changed.