Emil von Sydow
Encyclopedia
Emil von Sydow was a German geographer
and cartographer born in Freiberg, Saxony
. Early in his career he was a geography
instructor at the military academy in Erfurt
, and in 1867 became director of statistics and geography to the Prussian General Staff.
Emil von Sydow is considered to be the founder of methodical school cartography
, and was known for creating his own wall maps for classroom instruction. In 1838 he produced a physical map of Asia in his Schulmethodischer Wand Atlas (Methodic Wall Atlas for Schools), which was soon followed by maps of other continents. On these maps, von Sydow developed a color methodology for landscape features using hachures, where green was depicted for lowlands and brown used for highlands. Wilhelm Perthes of the publishing firm "Justus Perthes
Geographische Anstalt Gotha" was impressed with von Sydow's work and in 1849 produced the latter's Schulatlas in sechsunddreigig Karten (Schoolatlas in 36 maps), which eventually ran to 39 editions in 1887.
After von Sydow's death, Hermann Wagner
(1840-1929), a geography professor at Göttingen designed the Sydow-Wagner Methodischer Schulatlas (Sydow-Wagner Methodical School Atlas) with 60 major and 50 inset maps.
Geographer
A geographer is a scholar whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society.Although geographers are historically known as people who make maps, map making is actually the field of study of cartography, a subset of geography...
and cartographer born in Freiberg, Saxony
Freiberg, Saxony
Freiberg is a city in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, administrative center of the Mittelsachsen district.-History:The city was founded in 1186, and has been a center of the mining industry in the Ore Mountains for centuries...
. Early in his career he was a geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
instructor at the military academy in Erfurt
Erfurt
Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...
, and in 1867 became director of statistics and geography to the Prussian General Staff.
Emil von Sydow is considered to be the founder of methodical school cartography
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
, and was known for creating his own wall maps for classroom instruction. In 1838 he produced a physical map of Asia in his Schulmethodischer Wand Atlas (Methodic Wall Atlas for Schools), which was soon followed by maps of other continents. On these maps, von Sydow developed a color methodology for landscape features using hachures, where green was depicted for lowlands and brown used for highlands. Wilhelm Perthes of the publishing firm "Justus Perthes
Justus Perthes
Justus Perthes Publishers in Gotha, Germany was established in 1785. Justus Perthes was Publisher of geographic atlases, ‘’Petermann’s Geographische Mitteilungen’’ and also the Almanach de Gotha,...
Geographische Anstalt Gotha" was impressed with von Sydow's work and in 1849 produced the latter's Schulatlas in sechsunddreigig Karten (Schoolatlas in 36 maps), which eventually ran to 39 editions in 1887.
After von Sydow's death, Hermann Wagner
Hermann Wagner (geographer)
Hermann Wagner was a German geographer and cartographer who was a native of Erlangen. He was the son of anatomist Rudolf Wagner and brother to economist Adolph Wagner ....
(1840-1929), a geography professor at Göttingen designed the Sydow-Wagner Methodischer Schulatlas (Sydow-Wagner Methodical School Atlas) with 60 major and 50 inset maps.