Cartographica Helvetica

Summary

Madlena Cavelti Hammer:

Learning from works of art, for example: the Switzerland map by Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, c. 1720

Cartographica Helvetica 1 (1990) 29–31

Summary:

Johann Jakob Scheuchzer's Switzerland map has been considered a show-piece since its publication in 1712. By looking at the map itself and the surrounding images, one gets an excellent impression of its author and the spirit of that age. Scheuchzer was an enthusiastic Alpine researcher. He described his nine voyages through the Alps in several books and included the itineraries in his map. This publication actually lead to the beginnings of Alpine tourism, especially among English tourists. Scheuchzer also made a clear distinction between protestant and catholic towns and villages, thereby showing the two different political groups which eventually sparked the civil war by Villmergen.