Wittenburg.

Title

Wittenburg.

General view of the town of Wittenburg on the small river Motel in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

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

Wittenburg is a town in the district of Ludwigslust-Parchim in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany). The foundation of Wittenburg is not clearly documented. In 1194 Wittenburg was mentioned as a "provincie" of the county of Ratzeburg in Isfried's partition treaty. In 1201 a battle between the counts of Ratzeburg and Schwerin took place at Waschow, in the course of which the castle surrendered without a fight. This date also stands for the founding of the town of Wittenburg, but it may have been earlier.