The Topographic Map of Switzerland (German: Topographische Karte der Schweiz), also known as the Dufour Map (German: Dufourkarte; French: Carte Dufour) is a 1:100 000 scale map series depicting Switzerland for the first time based on accurate geometric measurements. It is also the oldest official map series of Switzerland.
From 1796 to 1802, the Atlas Suisse was published in Aarau by Johann Heinrich Weiss, Johann Rudolf Meyer and Joachim Eugen Müller.
The Atlas Suisse map series consisted of 16 sheets, was produced by a copperplate or intaglio printing process, and depicted the whole of Switzerland at a scale of 1:120,000.
Publication of the Dufour Map was begun in 1845 by the Federal Topographic Bureau under Guillaume-Henri Dufour, and continued to December 1864. The Dufour Map was based on measurements by the Cantons and the Swiss Confederation.
The original images for the Dufour Map were created in 1:25,000 scale (for the Swiss plateau) and 1:50,000 (for the mountains). However, the Dufour Map was published in 1:100,000 scale, enabling the territory of Switzerland to be divided into 25 sheets, each of which measured 70 centimetres (28 in) x 48 centimetres (19 in).
The Dufour Map was reproduced by an engraving print process, initially by intaglio, and later (from 1905) by flat plate impression. Until 1939, there were occasional revised editions of the Dufour Map sheets. The initially monochromatic map was enhanced in 1908 by the addition of an extra color, and then in 1938 by yet another colour.
The countryside (which in Switzerland is mostly hilly or mountainous) is depicted on the Dufour Map with hachures, which makes it appear especially vivid. Relief and elevation differences under the surface of lakes were symbolized by contours. This so-called "Swiss style" depiction received much praise, and earned the Topographic Bureau several international awards.
Dufour's work enabled the Swiss Confederation to have a valuable tool for its army and administration. Some surveys for the map had been conducted by the Cantons, but the federal government had made its contribution by tracking data in mountainous areas with difficult access. These actions had taken place in 1818, and then during the period 1836 to 1862.
The Dufour Map also conveys a precise idea of Swiss geography of the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century. One can see villages that have disappeared, glaciers that have retreated, and names of mountains that have changed since that time. Different editions of the Dufour Map give a reliable overview of demographic trends in Switzerland, the extension of settlements and significant changes in the territory, such as the damming of rivers, the construction of roads, and railway development.
From 1870, a map series in the 1:25,000 scale of the original Dufour Map images was published under the official name Topographic Atlas of Switzerland (German: Topographischer Atlas der Schweiz), and also known as the Siegfried Atlas or Siegfried Map (German: Siegfriedkarte; French: Carte Siegfried).
Swisstopo is the official name for the Swiss Federal Office of Topography, Switzerland's national mapping agency.
Guillaume Henri Dufour was a Swiss military officer, structural engineer and topographer. He served under Napoleon I and held the Swiss office of General four times in his career, firstly in 1847 when he led the Swiss Confederation forces to victory against the Sonderbund. In 1864 Dufour presided over the First Geneva Convention which established the International Red Cross. He was founder and president of the Swiss Federal Office of Topography.
The Historical Dictionary of Switzerland is an encyclopedia on the history of Switzerland. It aims to present the history of Switzerland in the form of an encyclopaedia, published both on paper and on the internet, in three of the country's national languages: German, French and Italian. When it was completed at the end of 2014, the paper version contained around 36,000 articles divided into thirteen volumes. At the same time, a reduced edition of the dictionary has been published in Romansh under the title Lexicon istoric retic (LIR), and constitutes the first specialist dictionary in the Rhaeto-Romance, Switzerland.
The cartography of Switzerland is the history of surveying and creation of maps of Switzerland. Switzerland has had its current boundaries since 1815, but maps of the Old Swiss Confederacy were drawn since the 16th century. The first topographical survey on a federal level began in 1809, resulting in the Topographic Map of Switzerland or Dufour Map. From 1869 to 1901, this map was replaced by the Topographic Atlas of Switzerland or Siegfried Map.
The National Maps of Switzerland, also referred to as the Swisstopo maps, are a set of official map series designed, edited and distributed by Swisstopo, the Swiss Federal Office of Topography. Each map series is based on an oblique, conformal, cylindrical projection, with a Swiss Coordinate system. All maps are updated in a complete cycle of about six years.
The Dunantspitze, formerly called Ostspitze, is a peak of the Monte Rosa Massif in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland. It is the second highest peak of the massif, after the Dufourspitze (4,634 m) and the second highest summit in Switzerland, but its prominence is only about 15 metres. At the time of its first ascent it was unclear which of the summits was the higher.
The Bürgenstock is a mountain in Switzerland with an elevation of 1,128 m (3,701 ft) above sea level, situated beside Lake Lucerne. Since the late 19th century, the Bürgenstock is the site of a large hotel and conference centre, today known as Bürgenstock Resort, situated some 600 m (2,000 ft) above Lake Lucerne.
The Topographic Atlas of Switzerland, also known as the Siegfried Atlas or Siegfried Map, is an official map series of Switzerland. Its publication was begun by the Federal Topographic Bureau under Hermann Siegfried, and continued from 1870 to 1926. During this period the individual maps were drawn by different lithographers, including Walter Hauenstein, Georg Christian von Hoven and Rudolf Leuzinger. Since it is, in today's parlance, not strictly an atlas but a map series, map historians now describe it only by the expression Siegfried Map.
A map series is a group of topographic or thematic charts or maps usually having the same scale and cartographic specifications, and with each sheet appropriately identified by its publisher as belonging to the same series.
The Atlas Suisse, by Johann Rudolf Meyer and Johann Heinrich Weiss, is the oldest map series based upon scientific survey and covering the whole of Switzerland. It was published between 1786 and 1802.
Rudolf Leuzinger was a Swiss cartographer. He is known as one of the most prolific cartographers in Switzerland and one of the best interpreters of mountain landscapes and geologic forms. Leuzinger was also the first to produce terrain maps in color lithography. His more than 300 maps are a rare combination of accuracy, scientific thoroughness and artistry and earned him several national and international honors.