Martin Helwig () (5 November 1516 – 26 January 1574) was a German

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 ...

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

and pedagogue. He was born in

Neisse The Lusatian Neisse (; ; ; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.

and died in Breslau,

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

Life

A former pupil of an eminent German scholar and educationist

Valentin Friedland Valentin Friedland (14 February 149026 April 1556), also called Valentin Troitschendorf (or Trozendorf or Trotzendorf or Trocedorfius) after his birthplace, was a German scholar and educationist of the Reformation. Friedland was a friend of Marti ...

, Helwig went on to study at the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

, where as a student of

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

and

Philip Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, an intellectual leader of the L ...

he earned the academic degree of Magister. In 1552, he became Rector of St. Maria Magdalena School in Breslau (now Wrocław, in Poland). Equally proficient in mathematics and geography as well as classical languages, he produced the first woodcut map of Silesia made on the basis of surveys and data collected from local inhabitants,Martin Helwig Map of Silesia 1561 - first woodcut map of Silesia made on the basis of surveys and data collected from local inhabitants - published 1561. Utrecht University; Utrecht Studies in the History of Cartography, vol. 6 University of Wroclaw, Maps Department - History of the collection - lost due to war events first copy of woodcut map of Silesia by Martin Helwig from 1561

which he published in 1561 under the title "Silesiae Typus", and dedicated to :de:Nicolaus Rehdiger der Jüngere, Nicolaus II. Rehdiger, a wealthy Silesian merchant, banker, philanthropist, governor and patron of the principality of Breslau sponsored the map. Martin Helwig's map went on to receive acclaim in a public writing by

Caspar Peucer Caspar Peucer ( , ; January 6, 1525 – September 25, 1602) was a German reformer, physician, and scholar of Sorbian origin. Personal life Early life Caspar Peucer was born on January 6, 1525, in Bautzen, (Sachsen, Germany) and died on Se ...

, an eminent German scholar at the University of Wittenberg, and was later republished in several versions of

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 ...

's pioneering world atlas, "

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 ...

".Helwig Marti

biography in Johann Heinrich Zedler, Zedler's Great Complete Encyclopedia of All Sciences and Arts, Volume 12 (H-He), Leipzig 1735, column 1328, (in German). The first map of Silesia by Martin Helwig constituted until the middle of the 18th century the main model and source of information for the cartographical presentation of this region of Europe on the maps of the most famous cartographers and publishers of those times.

Notes and references

External links

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Breslau, Silesia, Germany map c 1600
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heilwig, Martin German cartographers 1516 births 1574 deaths People from Nysa, Poland 16th-century cartographers 16th-century German writers 16th-century German male writers People from the Habsburg monarchy