Spezialkarte der Österreichisch-ungarischen Monarchie

This page refers to the 1:75000 scale black & white topographic spezialkarte of Austria-Hungary described in detail here. The War Archive in Stockholm scanned several of these maps for me at 300 dpi and I'm making them available here for your cartographic pleasure. I do not own these maps. Please note the copyright info.

About the Maps and Your Computer - Read Before Clicking!

These maps are far bigger than most files you download off of the Internet. Each is about 16M in size and the dimensions are about 6000x5000 pixels -- about six times the size of your computer screen. They're really meant to be printed and I give some advice on how to do that below.

These maps are stored in PNG format. You don't need to know what that is; your computer will understand. If you click on one of the links below, your browser will download and display the map. It will be faster to download the map without displaying it. On my Web browser (Firefox), the option is available via a right-click on the link under the menu item "Save Link Target As...".

The Maps (and Legend)

The maps available here are highlighted in yellow on the small chunk of the index below. If you want to relate this to a larger geographic area, the cities marked in blue will appear on any modern map. They are Przemyśl (in Poland, on the Polish-Ukrainian border), Lemberg (L'viv, Ukraine) and Tarnopol (Ukraine). The index comes from the NY Public Library's collection. I think (hope) my use of it here qualifies as fair use. In any case, I'm grateful to them for selling a copy of the index to me.

A small chunk of the huge index

One map is not shown in the index above. The map Chrzanów and Krzeszowice covers an area just northwest of Kraków. The legend for this series of maps is also available here but obviously isn't shown in the index.

Map Name Towns and Villages of Interest
Chrzanów and Krzeszowice Chrzanów, Krzeszowice, Liski, Balice (the Kraków airport), Brzezinka.
Jasło und Dukla Jasło, Dukla, Krosno, Zawadka Rymanowska, Jedlicze, Zmigród, Debowiec.
Brzozów und Sanok Brzozów, Sanok, Rymanów, Mryzglód, Pisarowce, Pielnia, Dudyńce, Pobiedno/Pobidno, Prusiek/Prusik, Sanoczek, Wolica, Zboiska, Niebeszczany, Wola Sękowa, Nadolany, Nagórzany, Nowotaniec, Odrzechowa, Długie, Zarszyn.
Lisko und Mezö Laborc Lisko, Mezö Laborc/Medzi Laborec, Baligród, Bukowsko, Ratnawica, Bełchówka, Tokarnia, Wola Piotrowa, Kamienne, Płonna, Mokre, Przybyszów, Wysoczany.
Drohobycz Drohobycz, Zawadów, Josefsberg, Königsau/Równe/Rivne, Brigidau, Neudorf-by-Drohobycz, Bolechowce, Medenice.
Skole Skole, Dołhe, Niniów (gorny and dolny), Pöchersdorf.
Bolechów Bolechów and Wołoska Wies, Ugartsthal, Machlinec/Machliniec, Izydorówka.
Dolina Dolina, Sliwki, Niebylów, Rożniatow, Witwica, Landestreu.

Printing the Maps

For the impatient: burn the file onto a CD and take it to Kinko's.

For the patient: Once you have a map file on your computer, getting it on paper is another matter. Your printer at home will only be able to print sections of the map unless you have a $5000 Linotronic Imagesetter in your spare bedroom. I took one map file to my local print/copy shop (a Kinko's) and had it printed at original size and dry mounted for about $35. It made a nice gift for my Mom. Printing alone can be as cheap as $7 at top quality. I have also had one printed (by Kinko's) on vinyl for about $25. The result is a puncture and tear-resistant, waterproof, rollable, foldable map with excellent print quality. Not only that, but in a pinch it can double as an umbrella, blowgun, place mat, etc.

No how you print it, it is very important to print the map at 100% magnification -- do not scale the map. I will say it again -- do not scale. If you scale the map to, say, 90% magnification, you will lose some detail; the map will look fuzzy. Print shops typically ask how big you want the printout to be. The best answer is "whatever 100% magnification produces".

The Coordinate System, or What's a Ferro?

For the impatient: subtract 17.4 degrees from the Ferro longitude.

For the patient: Most (all?) current maps use Greenwich, England as the zero point (the Prime Meridian) when counting longitude. Cynthia Lanius says it nicely: "Nature gave no clear direction on selecting the Prime Meridian, as it did with the equator as the 0 degree of latitude. As late as 1881, there were 14 different prime meridians still being used...The International Meridian Conference of 1884 adopted the Prime Meridian line passing through the Greenwich Observatory near London, England."

Austria-Hungary attended the conference and approved Greenwich as the Prime Meridian in 1884 so it is beyond me as to why these maps made 15 years later still use Ferro (one of the Canary Islands) as their Prime Meridian. Ferro is 17.4 degrees west of Greenwich, so to convert from Ferro to Greenwich longitudes, subtract 17.4 from the Ferro. The latitude is the same in both systems.

Copyright

The War Archive in Stockholm owns these maps. I asked them about distributing them on my Web site and I was told that it would not be a problem unless I tried to make a commercial enterprise of it. In other words, they don't want me or anyone else charging money for these maps. Obviously, this is an informal arrangement and they could clearly change their minds at any time. They've been generous; please respect their wishes.