Old Topographical Map of Germany, Poland & Switzerland by Bartholomew, 1955: Berlin, Warsaw, Zurich, Alps, Rhine

2026-04-25T23:48:11+01:00

Precio: 0.00 - 1975.00 (42 variants)

Originally titled “Germany, Poland and Switzerland” (Plate 62, Volume III), this 1955 chart from The Times Atlas of the World captures Central Europe at a decisive mid-century juncture. John Bartholomew’s hand is evident in the union of political clarity and physical drama: borders are crisply drawn while shaded relief and gentle gradient tints lift the Alps, Sudetes, and Black Forest from the page. Provinces and regions are labeled with scholarly precision, from Bavaria and Saxony to Silesia and Masovia, and the road network is color-keyed to anchor the great cities—Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Warsaw, Kraków, Zurich, Geneva—within their landscapes. Rivers and lakes are traced with hydrological nuance, and maritime gradients fringe the North and Baltic seas, inviting both study and quiet admiration.

John Bartholomew, working through the Geographical Institute in Edinburgh, perfected a cartographic language that married elegance to exactitude. Here his relief shading, spot heights, and hypsometric tints articulate altitude as though illuminated by a slant of afternoon sun, while his typography balances density with legibility. The graticule is clean and navigationally frank, its reference to the Greenwich Prime Meridian grounding every coordinate. Distinctive color coding separates political boundaries from the arterial web of roads, a Bartholomew hallmark that serves scholars, students, and travelers alike. In the Mid-Century Edition, he distilled a complex continent into an intelligible whole—scientific in method, lucid in design, and imbued with a quiet, mid-century poise.

Germany unfolds as a study in contrasts—industrial heartlands, riverine corridors, and alpine ramparts—mapped with the finesse that made Bartholomew indispensable. The Rhine, Elbe, and Danube headwaters orient Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Munich, while the Bavarian Alps, Harz, Thuringian Forest, and Ore Mountains rise in sculpted relief. Postwar realities are legible without polemic: the delineation between the Federal Republic and the German Democratic Republic is exact, and Berlin’s special status is unmistakably marked. Länder names and urban hierarchies—Cologne, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Leipzig, Dresden—are set against a calibrated road network that threads the Ruhr to Bavaria and Saxony, showing how terrain channels movement. Along the North Sea, bathymetric tints and the Elbe estuary suggest mercantile pathways that have shaped Germany for centuries.

To the east, Poland’s broad plains and river-lattice receive an equally sensitive treatment. The Vistula cuts a commanding axis from Kraków through Warsaw to the Gulf of Gdańsk, while the Oder links Wrocław and Szczecin, underscoring the importance of waterways in settlement and trade. Bartholomew’s relief shading clarifies the arc of the Sudetes and the high shoulders of the Tatras and Beskids, and the map’s provincial labeling places Silesia, Greater Poland, Pomerania, and Masovia in immediate context. Along the Baltic, gradient blues step out into the Gulf of Gdańsk, while inland the Masurian lake country is delicately stippled. Clear voivodeship boundaries and carefully ranked city symbols—Łódź, Poznań, Gdańsk—convey a nation balancing historic regions with modern administration amid newly settled frontiers.

Switzerland provides a mountainous counterpoint, rendered with the luminous subtlety that Bartholomew reserved for high relief. The Alps surge in tonal bands from the Bernese Oberland to the Grisons, while the Jura scarp shadows the French frontier. Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern, Lausanne, and Lucerne are set beside the lucid waters of Lakes Geneva and Lucerne, with Lake Zurich and the Rhine’s headwaters precisely fixed by the graticule. Cantonal boundaries are etched with dignified restraint, reflecting a federal mosaic shaped by valleys, passes, and watersheds. North–south corridors and transalpine routes are suggested in the road network, emphasizing Switzerland’s role as a hinge of continental exchange. Throughout, the Greenwich-referenced coordinates and mid-century design clarity transform complex relief and borders into an enduring, navigable portrait of Central Europe.

Cities and towns on this map

Berlin (Germany)

Hamburg (Germany)

Munich (Germany)

Cologne (Germany)

Frankfurt (Germany)

Stuttgart (Germany)

Düsseldorf (Germany)

Leipzig (Germany)

Dresden (Germany)

Warsaw (Poland)

Kraków (Poland)

Łódź (Poland)

Wrocław (Poland)

Poznań (Poland)

Gdańsk (Poland)

Szczecin (Poland)

Zurich (Switzerland)

Geneva (Switzerland)

Basel (Switzerland)

Bern (Switzerland)

Lausanne (Switzerland)

Lucerne (Switzerland)

Notable Features & Landmarks

Road networks clearly depicted with different color codes

Topographical features: shaded relief showcases mountains and valleys

Water bodies: rivers and lakes illustrated with gradients indicating depth

Political boundaries: clearly marked borders between Germany, Poland, and Switzerland

Territorial labels: provinces and regions labeled for clarity

Longitude and latitude lines indicating geographic coordinates for navigation

Prime Meridian reference set at Greenwich

Historical and design context

Map title: Germany, Poland and Switzerland, Plate 62, V. III

Creation date: 1955

Mapmaker/publisher: John Bartholomew; Geographical Institute, Edinburgh

Part of The Times Atlas of the World, Mid-Century Edition

Relief shading, spot heights, and gradient tints to represent elevation and maritime depths

Emphasis on clarity and detail, serving academic and general audiences

Combines political boundaries with physical geography; useful for navigation and study

Reflects mid-20th-century geopolitical changes in Europe

Covers Germany, Poland, and Switzerland with provincial boundaries and key geographical features

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The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.