Supplement: a ground-level glimpse of Russian towns
Baedeker's Russia: A Handbook for Travelers (1914) is an exquisite historical source.
(There is nothing like a simple, declarative statement, is there?)What's that? You remain unconvinced? Then consider perusing this collection of town plans. The plans - all in color - describe 49 locations within the Russian Empire, along with Peking (Beijing) and Teheran (Tehran). They were produced by an outstanding pair of cartographers, Heinrich Wager and Ernst Debes, whose shop was adjacent to that of the Baedeker publishing house in Leipzig. Though the cartography is consistent throughout the set, the maps are printed in German, Swedish, French, and English, depending on location.
How to use this collection:
- Enter the collection by clicking on any of the placemarks on the map above or on any of the town names listed in the Contents below.
- Use the arrows on the left and right sides of the screen to scroll through the collection. Or click on the link at the top to return to this page.
- Once you have opened a plan page you will see the image of the plan itself. Below the image you will see a link to the "source." Clicking that link will open a new window with the full citation information for the plan, as well as a dynamic high-resolution viewer (at the bottom of the screen).
- Back on the plan page, be sure to click on any annotations to read more about the historical and/or spatial context.
- Follow the tags at the bottom of the page to explore the connections and commonalities among the mapped locations.
