History of the inventory surveyor: A survey is the planned surveying and cartographic mapping of a country according to location and altitude. It comprises the creation of a position fixed point field by means of triangulation or trilateration, the creation of a height fixed point field by means of levelling and trigonometric height measurement, topographic mapping and finally the presentation of the results in map series of different scales. Such endeavours usually emanated from the respective government and served purposes of civilian administration, but also of the military. In Prussia, the first state surveys were already carried out under King Friedrich II (from 1767, "Cabinet Map"; 1:50,000), continued from 1816 by the Great General Staff. The resulting maps (1:25,000 and 1:20,000) became the basis for the military operation maps of the time ("General Staff Maps"; 1:80,000 and 1:100,000). These were revised between 1830 and 1865 using current surveying techniques (Prussian original photograph; 1:25,000) and published from 1868. Both due to technical progress in surveying technology and in map display and also due to higher demands, also from civilian side a new version became necessary (Prussian new admission). For this purpose, on January 1, 1875, the position of "Chief of the Landesaufnahme", to whom the Königlich Preußische Landesaufnahme was subject as an authority, was newly established in the Großer Generalstab. The foundations of the work of the Landesaufnahme were laid by the Central Directorate of Surveying in the Prussian State established in 1870. The tasks of the Landesaufnahme included the surveying itself (with determination of trigonometric points and levelling points) on the one hand and the presentation of the results in various map series on the other. The purely military needs were far exceeded, the personnel and financial requirements were considerable. As late as 1875, the head of the Great General Staff therefore attempted to hand over the tasks of the Prussian Landesaufnahme to the civilian side. This attempt was just as unsuccessful as a corresponding attempt by the chief of the Landesaufnahme itself in 1912. At the beginning of the war in 1914, the Landesaufnahme was dissolved as an institution; only the cartographic department remained in the Großer Generalstab. The long-lasting war renewed the need for such an institution, especially for war surveying, so that it was rebuilt on 29 April 1917. Finally, on 1 October 1919, it became an Imperial Authority under the jurisdiction of the Reich Ministry of the Interior, which was renamed the "Reichsamt für Landesaufnahme" on 11 July 1921. The new Prussian State Survey carried out by the Königlich Preußische Landesaufnahme (Royal Prussian State Survey) and also the smaller independent states of the German Empire finally comprised 3307 maps (so-called measuring table sheets) on a scale of 1:25,000. The individual maps each comprise six minutes of arc in width and ten minutes of arc in length. Until 1924 the geographical longitude used the so-called Ferro-Meridian (El Hierro, the westernmost island of the Canary Islands) as the prime meridian, and only from 1924 onwards the Greenwich-Meridian (difference 17°40') was used. The measuring table sheets were numbered line by line from west to east. From 1937 a four-digit row/column number grid was used. The procedure of the Prussian Landesaufnahme as of 1875 became, according to the agreement between Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Württemberg of 4 March 1878, the basis of the "Map of the German Reich" completed in 1909 (675 sheets of 30 arc minutes width and 15 arc minutes length; 1:100,000). Structure: Head of the Landesaufnahme (from 1. April 1894 Chief Quartermaster and Chief of the Landesaufnahme; rank Lieutenant General) - Trigonometrical Department (Geodesy) - Topographical Department (production of measuring table sheets) - Cartographical Department (processing of general staff maps) with print shop and photographic institution - Plankammer personnel size: 235 (18 of them officers), 23 commanded officers In the following years the Landesaufnahme was expanded and there were also: an Economic Commission (1878), a Photogrammetric Department (1914), a Colonial Section and a Section for Artillery Plan Material. Number of staff on 1 April 1914: 547 permanent staff (including 31 officers), plus 364 commanded soldiers (including 51 officers). Structure of the new national survey established on 29 April 1917: Chief of the national survey Chief of staff with staff - Trigonometric department - Topographic department - Photogrammetric department - Cartographic department - Geological department - Scientific computing centre - Section for artillery plan material - Planning chamber - affiliated: Office of the Central Directorate of Surveying The Geological Department was dissolved in 1919 when the Landesaufnahme became the responsibility of the Reich Ministry of the Interior, and the Scientific Computing Centre was taken over by the Army Command. Processing note: The inventory was catalogued in February/March by Mr Schütze as part of an internship. A total of 19 files were affected by mould and had to be restored before the content could be catalogued. Once these measures have been completed, these files will be made available. Inventory description: The inventory comprises the documents of the Königlich Preußische Landesaufnahme. Content characterisation: The collection mainly contains documents of the Topographical Department, including annual reports on the surveying travels undertaken in Germany, but also in the German colonies. In addition, there are some files on personnel matters. Pre-archival order: The mass of documents of the Königlich Preußische Landesaufnahme seems to have been lost due to the war. A few documents of the Landesaufnahme, newly established in 1917, were kept in the military archives of the GDR and were included in the stock PH 3 Großer Generalstab of the Prussian Army in 1995. In the year 2007 about 4 linear metres of documents of the first, 1914 dissolved, Landesaufnahme were handed over by the Secret State Archive of Prussian Cultural Heritage to the military archive and included in the newly formed stock PH 34. Citation style: BArch, PH 34/...
