New facts about old maps of the territory of the former Czechoslovakia

Abstract

The authors have searched the archives for information concerning the large-scale mapping of Czechoslovakia in the period 1921–1950, when the improvement and updating of older maps inherited from the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was carried out and new large-scale mapping was launched. Several map sets resulted from the mapping, yet they did not cover the whole territory of Czechoslovakia. Among the sets are: Czechoslovak revised topographical sections of the Austrian 3rd Military Survey, Czechoslovak preliminary maps in Beneš projection, Czechoslovak definitive maps in Křovák projection, German maps to the scale 1:25,000 called “Sonderausgabe” (Special Edition), “Karte des Sudetenlandes” (Map of Sudetenland), “Karte der Slowakei” (Map of Slovakia), and “Messtischblätter” surveyed during WWII. According to the authors’ research these maps covered 69.4% of the territory of Czechoslovakia as it was in 1938 and 75.6% of its territory in 1950. Surveying methods had improved over time and included the use of aerial photography.