Behind these walls

* Detail including the Chiemsee from the 24 Baierische Landtafeln, maps of Bavaria, created by Philipp Apian (1568)

In the 16th century the number of maps available in Bavaria was very modest. This was changed by Duke Albrecht V by commissioning the young mathematics professor Philipp Apian in 1554: Apian was to survey his duchy – and he should always be remembered for this work.

For seven summers – the winters being left out by the surveying team – Apian and his companions travelled throughout Bavaria on foot and by horse and systematically established surveying points. He noted the places, bridges and rivers, farmsteads, lakes and castles they came across. His work was completed in 1563: Apian had drawn up a map of the Duchy of Bavaria measuring around 5 x 5 metres and having a scale that was expedient for adding detail. One centimetre on the map corresponded to 450 metres. What's more, with regard to illustrations, Apian went beyond the cartographically required information: There are also animals, such as chamois bucks, or fishing boats and historical events (such as battles).

The image shows sheet 19 from the Baierische Landtafeln by Philipp Apian (call number Hbks/F 15).
The map was published in 1568 and has a total size of 156 x 159 cm.

Based on the "large map", a unique piece that was dedicated to the duke and kept in the ducal library of the Residence in Munich, Apian practically had a "paperback edition" of the "large map" produced five years later. He scaled down the large map of Bavaria, subdivided it into 24 partial maps, the Baierische Landtafeln, and had wood engravings produced of them. The Chiemsee is shown here, forming part of the Landtafel 19. Besides, this map had a larger scale: 1 centimetre on the map now corresponded to almost 1,500 metres. However, this had the advantage that the smaller maps could now be copied by means of the wood engravings produced and could be sold as maps which were easier to handle. For more than 200 years, the Baierische Landtafeln were considered as the official cartography of Bavaria. They were also used by Napoleon for invading Bavaria in his military campaigns around 1800.

• Would you like to zoom into or download the map of the Chiemsee and its surroundings?

• Would you like to browse  all 24 maps?

• How about looking over Apian's shoulder? This is a view of his notes.

• Apian also created other works, such as a terrestrial globe. It has been scanned in 3D and can be viewed from all sides in the cultural portal bavarikon. Give it a go!

* From the tournament book of Ludwig von Eyb the Younger (around 1525)

Here, the scenery of a "mace tournament" with two competing knight parties is shown. The knights each war a special mace tournament helmet with a gridded visor which should allow for a good all-around view. The publicly held spectacle is about the conspicuous helmet crests that can be seen in the picture. The objective in a mace tournament is to knock the helmet crest from the adversary’s helmet with a wooden, blunt sword, the mace.

The picture shows the sheet 14r from the tournament book of Ludwig von Eyb the Younger of Hartenstein (call number Cgm 961). The manuscript was created in southern Germany around 1525 in the German language (eastern Swabian) and comprises 136 sheets. The book measures 29.5 cm x 21 –  22 cm.

Do you wish to zoom into the picture or download it?
Do you wish to browse the complete tournament book?

Statement of image rights
The entire manuscript is provided for free download by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in its Digital Collections under the licence CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0..

Do you wish to learn more about the topic area "The world of the last knights"?

Virtual exhibition Worlds of images of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek of 2016/2017

Associated exhibition catalogue online ((in particular pages 143 – 161)

Article in the Historisches Lexikon Bayerns on the topic "Tournaments (Middle Ages/early modern era)" (with further bibliographic references)

... there is a collection of currently over three million objects, works and media items waiting for you? These digital copies can be retrieved everywhere all around the world, at any given time and free of charge from the online services of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek.

Our campaign Behind these walls invites you to learn more about: medieval manuscripts, maps from Bavaria and the world, iconic photographies and many more cultural treasures hidden in our repositories.

Every two weeks, we will introduce a selected work to you, which has either already been digitized or will be digitized in the near future.

Are you curious? To take a look behind these walls, you can use our Digital Collections or our Image Archive.

Digital Collections
Just click on a point of interest and off you go! For a start, we recommend our highlights, such as the Gutenberg Bible or Apian’s maps, which can be selected on the start page after scrolling down a bit.

Image Archive
From Munich’s Marienplatz to the port of Hamburg, on to the 14th Dalai Lama and further on to Loriot – all of these motifs can be found in our Image Archive.