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Subject:        RE: MAPS-L: Nazi-stamped maps
Date:   Wed, 30 Nov 2005
From:   Carlucci, April <[log in to unmask]>
To:     Maps, Air Photo & Geospatial Systems Forum <[log in to unmask]>


Hi Michael and everyone

Here at the British Library Map Collections we have so many of these that I don't think we'd call them rare or valuable, but of course they are and I would certainly consider removing them from an open access collection.

We received these as donations from the UK Ministry of Defence (previously called the War Office) which graciously donates a great deal of mapping to the BL as well as other public and university collections in Britain. My understanding is that when the Allied Powers were liberating Europe in the Second World War, they 'liberated' resources they came upon which were felt to be of strategic importance. Obviously, maps of of considerable strategic importance. Exactly how the British and American (and Soviet?) forces divided up the spoils in probably lost in the mists of time.

We have quite a bit of material, both maps and supporting documentation, with eagles grasping swastikas in our collection. Examples include mapping (Central European countries for the most part) drawn and published by the mapmakers of the Third Reich; mapping taken from other sources which was overprinted or annotated with information important to the Axis powers (for instance, Ordnance Survey mapping of British cities overprinted with locations of industries, military installations, government buildings, transport network, and--my favourite--breweries); and extensive documents listing all the available native, commercial and Reich mapping for countries the Reich was planning to 'visit.'

It is a fascinating part of 20th century cartographic history which is already coming into its own as an important source for the study of historical military mapping. You can consult our catalogue at www.bl.uk/catalogue.

I would be interested to know if anyone on the list has any thoughts or information about the copyright on this material. Until recently we were under the impression that the copyright resided with the Third Reich and as this entity no longer exists the copyright was no longer valid. However, we have noticed lately some examples of this material being used as illustrations and the German government being credited. Any thoughts?

Regards,
April

April Carlucci
Cataloguing Manager and Curator of Modern Maps
British Library Map Collections


-----Original Message-----
From: Maps, Air Photo & Geospatial Systems Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Angie Cope, AGSL
Sent: 30 November 2005 13:50
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: MAPS-L: Nazi-stamped maps

cc: to MapHist
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Subject:        Nazi-stamped maps
Date:   Tue, 29 Nov 2005
From:   Michael Fry <[log in to unmask]>
Organization:   University of Maryland Libraries
To:     Maps and Air Photo Systems Forum <[log in to unmask]>


I recently discovered that some of the older European topo maps in our collection have been stamped
with Nazi insignia (i.e., an eagle, wings spread, standing on or grasping a wreath w/ a swastika
inside) and the words "Reichsamt für Landesaufnahme" and "Kartensammlung" (roughly translated, I
think, as "Reich's Agency for Surveying" and "map collections"). The particular sheet in front of
me, Basel-Laufen from a 1936 "Topographischer Atlas der Schweiz," also has "S.282" and "22.[???]
1937" just to the left of the eagle. (I don't know if these are *related* to the eagle, but they're
in the same color ink.)

In addition, there's also this stamp:
CIA Map Branch
Received
Feb 25, 1949

According to Carlos Hagen's "Map Libraries and the Armed Services--A Story of Uneven Relationships,"
some of the maps distributed by the Army Map Service were "captured from Axis Powers." Is this the
likely source of the sheet I'm looking at? Are maps with the Nazi insignia considered rare or
valuable (and possibly worth removing from open access), or simply historically interesting artifacts?

Thanks for any insight you can provide.

mf
--
Michael Fry
Government Documents & Maps Librarian
University of Maryland Libraries


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