next chapter
But let's first have a synoptic look at the surveying of The Netherlands and at some of the characteristics of the resulting maps.
From the first quarter of the 16th century onwards general topographical maps for the whole of the
country (the
Netherlands and Belgium) are known. Jacob van Deventer (1505-1575) was the first 'geographer' who
surveyed the
country by province in a uniform manner, applying triangulation. All 5 maps are on the scale ca. 1:180,000.
The order
for the mapping had been given by the States in Brussels. When Van Deventer's maps had to be revised
Christiaan
'sGrooten (152?-1603/8) was commissioned by Philips II of Spain to survey the country again. He produced
a.o. the
'Brussels Atlas' (1573) and the 'Madrid Atlas' (1595), which contain a.o. a map on the scale ca. 1:400,000
and one
map on the scale ca. 1:230,000. Three parts of the first map and 8 parts of the second cover the Netherlands
and
part of Belgium.
However when the central authority of the Habsburgers broke down surveying and mapping became
the concern
of the separate provinces. From then onwards no homogeneous map of the Netherlands on middle scales
has been
produced up till the 19th century.
At the end of the 18th century some topographic surveys have taken place on the scale 1:14,400 (See:
Index sheet
5 of Koeman's 'Guide to the study of topographical mapping in The Netherlands 1750-1850', which lists
12 maps
on this scale), which in 1796 were continued by the Batavian Republic. These were partly used for the
Krayenhoff-map
1:115,200.
The first order for an extensive topographical survey and mapping was not of a military nature. The
Executive Committee
of the Batavian Republic (the first centralized state since the independence of the Netherlands) in 1798
installed
a committee for the mapping of the territory which could be used to show the new administrative
organisation. This
was because the mapping of the Netherlands then consisted of a multitude of regional maps, greatly
varying in scale,
execution and reliability. The map was to be produced by C.R.T. Baron Krayenhoff (1758-1840). In 1806
a
'Depot-Général de la Guerre' was founded, of which Krayenhoff became the director.
In 1809 he
was promoted to 'Minister of War', but he resigned in 1810 when The Netherlands were annexed by
France. However
he was appointed Inspector-general of the Corps of Engineers. When he impressed Napoleon with his
fortifications
of Amsterdam he was ordered to Paris as an advisor. Here he wrote his report about triangulation, published
in
1815 and improved and reprinted in 1827 called: 'Précis historique des operations géodesiques
et astronomiques
faites en Hollande; pour servir de base à la topographie de cet état.' In spite of his many
functions he did a lot of
the triangulation-measurements himself! The network was connected with the French triangulation by
Jean Baptiste
Joseph Delambre (1749-1822), thereby providing a link between the French and Danish triangulation
networks. (21) On the title-page of the Krayenhoff-map the first order trigonometrical-points
are
given. His triangulation-network was replaced between 1866 and 1928, though later measurements showed
that his
work was more precise than expected. (7) The resulting map was
published between 1810 and 1823 and
reprinted
in 1829.
When it appeared to be impossible in the 1820's for the various Dutch surveying services to cooperate,
the Cadastral
Survey mapped the whole country, but published them province by province on the scales 1:25,000-1:80,000.
Till 1830
the Military Survey produced a manuscript field atlas, which at the end contained 87 sheets 1:25,000
of the Belgian
territory and 180 sheets 1:10,000 and 1:40,000 of the present Dutch territory.
When Belgium seceded after 1830 the lack of a good topographic map in the Netherlands was felt. The
officers of
the General Staff were commissioned to make a topographic map which not only depicted the most
important "topographic
details, but also the nature, condition and vegetation of the grounds, the different overland- and waterroutes,
the
slope of the terrain etc. When in 1839 two southern provinces were surveyed for the greater part on
the scale 1:25,000
king Willem II was so satisfied with the result he ordered the rest of the country to be mapped in the
same way.
The survey was finished in 1859. The geodetic base was formed by the triangulation-network of Krayenhoff,
but this
was complemented by a secondary triangulation-network (completed in 1855) as the earlier one was
too gross. The
projection was that of the French cartographer Rigobert Bonne (1727-1795). The field documents on
the scale 1:25,000
then were reduced and lithographed on the scale 1:50,000 by the 'Topografisch Bureau' and its successors,
forerunners
of the present Dutch Topographic Survey (TDN). In 1864 the 'Topographic and Military map of the
Kingdom of
The Netherlands' (TMK) was ready, but printed only in black. The sheet-index for the TMK had already
been created
between 1822-1827 for a non-executed plan for a 1:50,000 map. The TMK was used as base-map for
the geological
map 1:200,000 (1858-1867), the 'Topographic atlas of the Kingdom of The Netherlands 1:200,000' (published
1870)
and the Waterstaatskaart (Water Management Map) 1:50,000 (1st edition 1864-1890).
When the TMK was finished in 1864 it was decided to update the sheets along certain defense-lines
(IJssel-river,
Tielerwaard, Bommelerwaard and the Meijerij) on the scale 1:25,000. From these so called 'strookkaarten'
(strip-maps)
came the 776 sheet series 'Chromo-Topographische kaart 1:25.000' with a map-size of 40 x 25 cm. They
were produced
in the same way as the 1:50,000 series, except that they were printed in colour. Like the 1:50,000 they
used the projection
of Bonne.
For reproduction one used the technique of lithography, which was improved by or under the direction
of C.A. Eckstein,
since 1878 director of the 'Topografisch Bureau' (former TDN).
Reliable height-measurements were only available from 1894 onwards. The surveys were mainly done
in the field,
though since 1932 experiments with aerial photographs were made.
Both 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 were printed in colour since 1885
(16B).
Pastel-colours were used to depict
built-up areas,
roads, waterways and landuse. In the maps line- and point-symbols can be discerned, a.o.: roads, buildings
(wooden
or iron/glass/stone), towers, triangulation-stones, bridges, gauges, steam-driven pumping-station, windmills,
oilpumping
stations, dikes, locks etc., and isolines for height (of which the interval changes with the relief-energy)
and depth,
and area symbols like water, landuse-classes, forests, sands etc.
Since 1932, with the implementation of aerial photography, a stereographic projection replaced the former
Bonne
projection. In the 1920's the Van Roon Commission had evaluated the use of the Bonne-projection.
Though the geodetic
base for a single sheet didn't show too many divergences the sheets did not fit very well together. This
problem was
alleviated with the new projection. The sheet-size was enlarged to be able to print the legend next to
the right hand
side of the map, later underneath the map. (2)
After many discussions, even with the Prime Minister (the famous photogrammetrist prof.dr. W.
Schermerhorn) after
WW II, a 1:10,000 map series was produced between 1951 and 1961, comprising 649 sheets, with a map-size
of 100
x 62,5 cm. It is mainly a working map used as background for culture/technical works, planning, and
as base map
for geographical, geological and geomorphological research. The sheets have the same numbering as
the 1:25,000,
but are sub-divided into a North and a South sheet each. They are also reduced to 1:25,000 which gave
a perfect
guide key for the rest of the cartographic process on the 1:25,000 series. This reduced map also served
as base-map
for the generalization of the 1:50,000 series.
The 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 maps were produced with different technical processes between 1866 and
1951. Since 1951
the maps are produced in 2 editions: one with an UTM-network for military use and one with the Dutch
national
grid for civilian use (on which till 1962 landmarks of military importance were filled in with fantasy
sketches!).
In 1954 The TDN was commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, State Planning Service and Central Statistical Office to produce a 1:10.000 landuse map. Since 1977 this map is produced in-house by the Central Statistical Office.
In the 1950's a 1:10,000 height map was produced in cooperation with the Survey Department of the
Rijkswaterstaat.
This map is available as diazo-print.
Since 1981 in a tri-annual cycle aerial photographs are taken on the scale 1:18,000 by private firms and
coordinated
by the TDN. These are used by the Ministries of Finances and of the Interior to calculate the building-volume
within
municipalities (from these municipal building volumes the amount of finances is calculated which the
municipalities
will get from the national government). However the same pictures are also used as basis for the topographic
maps.
The TDN started in 1981 with the digital production of the 1:250,000 series, soon to be followed by the
1:50,000 series.
For both maps there is also a edition for planning purposes, printed in grey.
To get a true insight into the technical changes and processes used with the TDN since 1814 one should
read the
article by Ir. L. van Zuijlen, former vice-director of the TDN, published in a special 1990 issue of the
Kartografisch
Tijdschrift. (16B) Unfortunately this article is only available in Dutch.
To relate the contents of the 1:25,000 with other European series a scheme of Piket of 1972 is here reproduced. He discerns the following types (4):
I. The Belgian type: this shows, more than other maps, a continuing topographic spectrum,
especially
for the built-up areas and the orography
II. The Dutch type: a rather broad topographic spectrum with the exception of the built-up
areas.
III. The German type: a rather broad topographic spectrum for land covering (vegetation) and
orography.
IV. The Italian type: Accentuation of height in a remarkable small topographic spectrum for
built-up
areas and land cover.
V. The Swiss type: An excellent depiction of height and relief, but otherwise a small topographic
spectrum for other items.
| buildings | roads | vegetation | orography | hydrography | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I Belgium | **** | *** | ** | **** | ** |
| II Netherlands | * | **** | ** | ** | ** |
| III Germany/ Danmark | * | * | ** | ** | ** |
| IV Italy | * | * | ** | ** | ** |
| V Switserland | * | * | * | ****** | * |
Comparing the degree of generalization on topographic maps between 16 (mainly) western European
countries J.J.
Krijnders came to the following conclusion: "We can discern three groups of countries:
- Austria, Germany and Spain, which generalize not very much. For Spain this isn't curious as the
1:50,000
map of the IGN is a reduction of the 1:25,000 map (as the map of the Instituto Geographico Militar
is not
directly available);
- Great-Britain, Portugal, Sweden, Norway and especially Ireland, which generalize very much;
- Belgium, France, Denmark, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Italy and Finland which are in between".
(16E)
earlier chapter
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