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

Michael,

I recently presented a poster related to this topic last October at the NACIS conference in Salt Lake City.  There are hundreds of different stamps from that era on captured maps.  Some are maps that the German military initially captured from other countries. In my mind they are historically interesting artifacts.  However, any given stamped sheet could be rare or valuable to somebody.  Also, the symbols may be offensive to some and prone to mutilation ( I have seen the little swastika colored in on some nautical charts.

Below is the abstract from my poster.

Best wishes,
Scott R. McEathron
Map Librarian
Anschutz Library -- University of Kansas
1301 Hoch Auditoria Drive
Lawrence, KS  66045-7537

Captured German Military Maps of WWII: The Results of a Preliminary Survey from the Thomas R. Smith Map Collections, University of Kansas Libraries
Scott R. McEathron, University of Kansas Libraries (email: [log in to unmask])

In the wake of Allied advances into Germany in 1945, teams of young geographers working for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Cartographic Division's Map Information Section went in search of German geographers and maps.  They interviewed geographers and mapmakers and found maps by the hundreds of thousands.  The maps that were not of immediate strategic value were shipped back to Washington, D.C. (Smith and Black 1946; Wilson 1949, 306).

Many of these captured maps were eventually distributed to American universities via the Army Map Service depository channels and through the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division's summer internship programs.  Beyond the initial studies related to this topic (Fisher 1946; Smith and Black 1946; Wilson 1949) little subsequent work has been done.  Notable exceptions include Rose and Willig's (2004) study on the preparations made by German geologists for Operation Sealion.  Also, Tatham's (1978) survey of captured German maps held in the Map Room of King's College, London.

This poster introduces a survey of these materials that is initially focused on the T. R. Smith Map Collections, University of Kansas Libraries.  The primary objectives of the survey are to: 1) explore and document the extent and intensity of mapping; 2) explore the varieties and innovations of mapping conducted by the German military circa 1939-45; and 3) explore the provenance of the maps themselves.

Preliminary results confirm what one may expect in regards to extent and intensity of German mapping.  Areas of the most intense mapping include: France, the Low Countries, the United Kingdom, Norway, the Balkans, and the Soviet Union.  Tatham (1978, 25) identified four forms of thematic or specialized mapping: Missweisungs-und Nadelabweichungs Karte (Magnetic deviation and variation map), Volkstumskarte (Nationalities map), Befestigungskarte (Fortifications map), and Baustoffkarte (Building material map).  In addition to these, several others have been located in the T. R. Smith Map Collections, including: Bildplankarte (Photographic map), Fliegerausgabe (Pilot's edition), Mil.-Geo.-Karte or Militärgeographische Einzelangaben (Military map), Panzerkarte (Tank map), Stadtplans (City plans), Stereokarte (Stereographic map), nautical charts, and various communications (telegraph/phone) maps.

Occasionally, the provenance of the maps may be traced using the "ownership" stamps on the sheets.  Original owners include national agencies in France, Greece, and the Soviet Union (captured by the German Army), and Germany, universities, individuals, and military units.  Intermediate owners generally include one or more of the following: the Army Map Service, OSS, the Department of State, or the Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.  The final owner is the University of Kansas Libraries, T. R. Smith Map Collections.


References

Fisher, Eric. 1946. German Geographical Literature, 1940-1945. Geographical Review 36, no. 1: 92-100.

Rose, E. P. F., D. Willig. 2004. Specialist Maps Prepared by German Military Geologists for Operation Sealion: The Invasion of England Scheduled for September 1940. Cartographic Journal 41, no. 1: 13-35.

Smith, Thomas R., Lloyd D. Black. 1946. German Geography: War Work and Present Status. Geographical Review 36, no. 3: 398-408.

Tatham, A. F. 1978. German Military Mapping--an Exploratory Survey. The Cartographic Journal 15, no. 1: 20-27.

Wilson, Leonard S. 1949. Lessons From the Experience of the Map Information Section, OSS. Geographical Review 39, no. 2: 298-310.

-----Original Message-----
From: Maps, Air Photo & Geospatial Systems Forum
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Angie Cope, AGSL
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 7:50 AM
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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