JohnC Posted 28 July , 2019 Share Posted 28 July , 2019 To support the projection of their forces beyond German borders the Royal Prussian Army prepared a series of maps at a scale of 1:300,000 (about 5 miles to an inch) which covered most of central Europe - Ubersichtskarte von Mitteleuropa. These maps assumed a war of movement and therefore the cartography was designed to show a general picture of landscape and transport, sufficient for strategic direction. The one pictured here shows the area where the borders of Belgium, Germany, France and Luxembourg connect, a place where rapid movement did briefly happen in the year in which it was printed, 1914. Although not specifically aviation maps they were used so and occasionally marked as Fliegerkarte. In the early war they were the German pilot's only option for cross-country route plotting and navigation. Without a grid, other than the lat/long indexing in very small print, they could not have been used for directing artillery fire, but were probably good enough for general recce. The only military features are the markings for forts, armoured forts, obsolete forts and the perimeter of fortified zones - good places for fliers to avoid whether friend or foe. Those in neutral counties are coded in green, enemy in red. Interesting then that at least the army's Cartographic Department presented the impression of Belgium as neutral..... These sheets are quite small and handy, about 40cm across, but of thin fragile paper. I can't imagine them lasting long aloft, except in the cabin of an airship. They don't have the gritty, front-line detail of trench maps but I rather like them for the way they capture the spirit of pre-war thinking. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cnock Posted 13 January , 2020 Share Posted 13 January , 2020 Hello, part of official Fliegerkarte made in 1917 by the Cartographic section of the General Staff of the Army. Map is labelled 'Lile' but als include are Ypres, Poperingen, Hazebrouclk, Cassel regards, Cnock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted 13 January , 2020 Author Share Posted 13 January , 2020 Hello Cnock. Thanks for sharing this map. I posted a thread about this series under 'German Aviation Maps - 3' on 6th Sept 2019. I have several of these sheets but not Lille, so it's nice to see yours. Best wishes, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cnock Posted 13 January , 2020 Share Posted 13 January , 2020 sorry, didn't notice German Aviation Maps - 3. regards, Cnock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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