Historic Map : Perthes Antique Map of Northeastern Germany and Prussia, 1853, Vintage Wall Art

A fascinating example of the 1853 Justus Perthes map of northeastern Germany and Prussia. This map covers the German states from Schleswig south as far as Bohemia. Prussia attained its greatest importance in the 18th and 19th centuries when it dominated northern Germany politically and economically. The German Confederation, created in 1814, acted as a buffer zone between Austria and Prussia, its two largest and most powerful member states. Nonetheless the rivalry between the two powerful states increased until it finally broke out into the Austro-Prussian War. Prussia won the Austro-Prussian War in 1866 leading to the collapse of the German Confederation. A few years later, in 1871, most of the former Confederation states were folded into the newly proclaimed German empire. Throughout, the map identifies various cities, towns, rivers and assortment of additional topographical details. Valuable for those conducting genealogy, this highly detailed map identifies the names of many of Germany's smallest towns. Political and regional borders are highlighted in outline color. Unlike other cartographic publishers of the period, the Justus Perthes firm did not transition to lithographic printing techniques. Instead, all of their maps are copper plate engravings and hence offer a level of character and depth of detail that was impossible to find in lithography or wain x-process engraving. All text is in German. Issued as plate no. 22a in the 1854 edition of Stieler's Hand-Atlas.