Emil von Sydow (15 July 1812 – 13 October 1873) was a German military

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

and

cartographer Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

born in

Freiberg, Saxony Freiberg () is a college town, university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany, with around 41,000 inhabitants. The city lies in the foreland of the Ore Mountains, in the Saxon urbanization axis, which runs along the northern edge of the ...

. Prior to 1843, he was a

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

instructor at the military academy in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

, afterwards being appointed as a member of the ''Ober- Militär-Examinationscommission'' in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. In 1849, he began giving instruction in geography to Prince Albert of Prussia (1837–1906), and soon afterwards gave lectures on military geography at the ''Allgemeinen Kriegsschule''. From 1855 to 1860, he performed geographical and cartological duties in

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

, then returned to Berlin, where in 1867 he was appointed ''Abtheilungschef'' (division chief) to the Prussian General Staff. In 1870, he attained the rank of Colonel, and died three years later in Berlin due to cholera. He is considered to be the founder of methodical school

cartography Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

, and distinguished himself by creating his own wall maps for classroom instruction. In 1838 he produced a physical map of Asia in his "''Schulmethodischer Wand Atlas''" (Methodic Wall Atlas for Schools) that was soon followed by maps of other continents. On these maps, Sydow developed a color methodology for landscape features using

hachures Hachures () are an older mode of representing relief. They show orientation of slope, and by their thickness and overall density they provide a general sense of steepness. Being non-numeric, they are less useful to a scientific survey than cont ...

, where green was depicted for lowlands and brown used for highlands. Wilhelm Perthes (1793–1853) of the publishing firm " Justus Perthes Geographische Anstalt Gotha" was impressed with Sydow's work and in 1849 produced the latter's "''Schulatlas in sechsunddreigig Karten''" (Schoolatlas in 36 maps), a work that eventually ran to 39 editions by 1887. The ''Drei Karten-Klippen'' generalized the knowledge of the projection of the surface of the sphere on the map, the representation of the three-dimensional Earth's surface on the two-dimensional paper and the selection and generalization of the map objects, basic questions that made Sydow pioneering. After von Sydow's death, Hermann Wagner (1840-1929), a geography professor at

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, designed the "''Sydow-Wagner Methodischer Schulatlas''" (Sydow-Wagner Methodical School Atlas) with 60 major and 50 inset maps.Herman Wagner (1889)
''Sydow-Wagners Methodischer Schulatlas''
Zweite durchgesehene und berichtigte auflage. Gotha, Justus Perthes

References

Origins of School Cartography {{DEFAULTSORT:Sydow, Emil von 1812 births 1873 deaths People from Freiberg German cartographers Map publishing companies