Georg Braun (also ''Brunus, Bruin''; 1541 – 10 March 1622) was a German topo-

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 ...

. From 1572 to 1617, he edited the ''Civitates orbis terrarum,'' which contains 546 prospects, bird's-eye views and maps of cities from all around the world. As principal editor of the work, he acquired the tables, hired the artists, and wrote the texts. He died as an octogenarian in 1622, the only survivor of the original team to witness the publication of volume VI in 1617.

Biography

Braun was born and died in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. His principal profession was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

. He spent thirty-seven years as

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

and dean at the church, St. Maria ad Gradus, in Cologne. His six-volume work was inspired by

Sebastian Münster Sebastian Münster (20 January 1488 – 26 May 1552) was a German cartographer and cosmographer. He also was a Christian Hebraist scholar who taught as a professor at the University of Basel. His well-known work, the highly accurate world map, ...

's '' Cosmographia''. In form and layout it resembles the 1570 ''

Theatrum orbis terrarum (, "Theatre of the Lands of the World") is considered to be the first true modern atlas. Written by Abraham Ortelius, strongly encouraged by Gillis Hooftman and originally printed on 20 May 1570 in Antwerp, it consisted of a collection of un ...

'' by

Abraham Ortelius Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer from Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands. He is recognized as the creator of the list of atlases, first modern ...

, as Ortelius was interested in a complementary companion for the Theatrum. The Braun publication set new standards in cartography for over 100 years.

Frans Hogenberg Frans Hogenberg (1535–1590) was a Flemish-German painter, engraver, and mapmaker. Life Hogenberg was born in Mechelen in Flanders as the son of Nicolaas Hogenberg.

(1535–1590, from

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

) created the tables for volumes I through IV, and Simon van den Neuwel created those for volumes V and VI. Other contributors were

Joris Hoefnagel Joris Hoefnagel or Georg Hoefnagel (1542, in Antwerp – 24 July 1601, in Vienna) was a Southern Netherlands, Flemish painter, printmaker, Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniaturist, draftsman and merchant. He is noted for his illustrat ...

, Jacob Hoefnagel, cartographer Daniel Freese, and Heinrich Rantzau. Works by Jacob van Deventer,

, and Johannes Stumpf were also used. Primarily European cities are depicted in the publication; however,

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

and

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

as well as

Cuzco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous province and department. The city was the capital of the Inca Empire unti ...

on one sheet are also included in volume I, whereas

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

is featured in volume II.

Sources

* James Elliot (1987),
The City in Maps: Urban Mapping to 1900
'' British Library London, * Ronald Vere Tooley (1979),
Tooley's Dictionary of Mapmakers
'' * Leo Bagrow,

: ''A. Ortelii Catalogus Cartographorum,'' J. Perthes (1928)

Gallery

File:PPN750079541 Hamburgum (1588).jpg,

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

(Hamburgum) File:Kronborg Braun-Hogenberg.jpg,

Kronborg Castle Kronborg is a castle and historical stronghold in the town of Helsingør, Denmark. Immortalised as Elsinore in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet'', Kronborg is one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe. It was inscribed ...

and the

Øresund Øresund or Öresund (, ; ; ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Denmark–Sweden border, Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width var ...

File:Braun-Lipsae-Insignis.png,

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

(Lipsae Insignis) File:Braun-mexico-cuzco.png,

and

File:Map of Nijmegen (Noviomagum) ca 1570.jpg,

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

(Noviomagum) File:Braga-mapa mediaval.jpg,

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

(Bracara Augusta) File:Coimbra (Braun – Hogenberg, 1598).jpg,

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...

(Conimbriae) File:Braun Lisboa HAAB.jpg,

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

(Olissipona) File:Maps of Paris by Braun & Hogenberg - Sanderus Antiquariaat.jpg,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

(Lutetia) File:Braun Roma UBHD.jpg,

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

(Roma)

Works

References

External links

*
Civitates orbis terrarum
(description and high-res scans)

Georg Braun maps depicting Europe and Mexico
at the John Carter Brown Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Braun, Georg 1541 births 1622 deaths Scientists from Cologne German geographers 16th-century cartographers 17th-century German cartographers 16th-century German Roman Catholic priests 17th-century German Roman Catholic priests 16th-century German writers 16th-century German male writers Clergy from Cologne