Last check: 04/12/2026 Slap count: 4 Last checked ID: 16777215
5th April 2026 - mapster update
1
Update from the collections of the Library of Congress:
• approximately 150 sheets of the German map ‘Slowakei 1:50,000’ dated 1944/45.
Most of the sheets are pre-war Czechoslovak maps rescaled (from
1:75,000); only a few sheets from 1945 are new, updated editions.
Several sheets are draft versions of the ‘Reliefkarte der a-Stellung’
edition (a relief map of the front line of defence).
It is possible that the full version (with
actual defensive positions) was completed later on but there is no
reference to such series in any libraries so it can be assumed that the
Germans ran out of time and the draft versions subsequently fell into
the hands of the
US Army.
• 28 sheets of the American map ‘Railways of Germany including main Roads’
at a scale of 1:250,000 from dated approx. 1945 (this is only a very
simplified schematic of the railway network).
• Several city plans from the collection of
Mr Ryszard Hubisz:
- a very rare plan of Pinsk from the time of the First World War
(approximately the years 1917–1918)
- a plan of Głubczyce (Leobschütz) dated 1927
- a plan of the village of Krowinka (Кровинка) in Ukraine
- a plan of Lviv from the Książnica-Atlas publishing house from the
year 1931
• A German plan of Polotsk
(Полацк) in Belarus (not
Płock! ;), dated 1944. Unfortunately, the plan is attached to a
typescript Mil-Geo description, probably never published in a full
format; hence
poor-quality scan-photo.
• Several American schematic plans
of Szczecin, Świnoujście, Gdynia, and Gdańsk, dated 1955–1970,
probably produced by the OSS, Office of Strategic Services, later the
Central Intelligence Agency (please note: they're highly generalised!)
• Umgebungskarte von
Moskau 1:50,000. A collective mini-series of 15 sheets (4 x
single sheets in the
international system), with a small Mil-Geo update. Several sheets
published, from 1940 to September 1942. The maps have been added
to the index of joined editions of the German map of the USSR (Russland
1:50,000); the original German
index can be downloaded as pdf in the bottom left
corner of the index in Mapster.
note: this year we do not anticipate any updates, i.e. new additions
tot his joint Russland 1:50,000 series
• Mil-Geo-Karte Serbien
Several sheets of a regular German copy of earlier Yugoslavian
maps at a scale of 1:100,000, with some military-geographic overprints.
We have no detailes as to how many sheets were produced. Since the maps
are the same layout / format of regular
German 1:100,000 series of the former Yugoslavia, they have been placed
in
this index in Mapster. Some sheets
include schematic town plans on their reverse side, they're available
as attachments to those sheets.
• Approximately 20 sheets of the German map ‘Russland 1:50,000’
from the Caucasus, reprinted from rescaled Tsarist
‘one-verst’ maps (1:42,000) updated in pre-war times in the Soviet
Union and in the original Roman sheet numbering. The series appears
somewhat... crued, probably produced alongside German attempt to
‘break through’ the Caucasus mountain ranges (Operation Edelweiss) and
reach the oil
fields on the other side. A certain number of sheets may have been
re-done in new style and format, but they are
not available in the Library of Congress; perhaps they can be found in
some Romanian institutions, though this is just speculation.
Two small items from the ‘Literature’ section:
• MERKBLATT ZU KARTENMATERIAL POLEN MIT EINER
ANLAGEMAPPE ENHALTEND 16 KARTENBLATTER(1939)
(PDF).
INSTRUCTION ON CARTOGRAPHIC
MATERIALS OF POLAND ALONG WITH A PORTFOLIO OF ANNEXES WITH 16 MAP
SHEETS (1939). Unfortunately, the ‘portfolio’ with annexes (probably
indexes of the major Polish map types and some individual sample map
sheets) is missing, most likely ‘scavenged’ for
ongoing needs, either within the German cartographic services or, after
the war in the US Army Map Service.
• AIR STAFF POST HOSTILITIES INTELLIGENCE
REQUIREMENTS ON GERMAN AIR FORCE MAPPING AND CHARTING (1946)
(PDF)
A very interesting
analysis on WW2 Luftwaffe cartography. Unfortunately, although the
text is legible, it is only a ‘copy of a blueprint of a photocopy of a
photostat copy’ and is simply impossible to convert via any OCR soft.
(courtesy of the Library of Congress, ‘World War II
military intelligence map collection’, shelfmark G3201.S7 collection
.G7)
Hey, Marek! Trying to access maps at your page "Other Central European Maps, via both Chrome and Opera browsers, I get the dialog box "File not found (404 error)
If you think what you'r
Hello: I do Polish Genealogy. I need a topo map of Poland with major cities which I’ve never been able to find on the WEB. It should show post partition Poland with an out line of pre-partition Pola
Hi:
Are there any other maps showing parishes such as:
Andrzej Tomczak
Siec parafialna
Wojewoddztwa pomorskiego
Okregu bytowskiego I leborskiego
W drugiej polowie xvi wieku
Skala 1:300.
Thanks
