Justus Perthes (publishing company)

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The basis for all maps was still copper engraving, used till the Second World War. But for the printing Bernhardt Perthes switched to electrolytic reproduction and lithographic colourprint. His favourite printing process, however, was ‘Chimitypie’, a process that transformed drawings or copper engravings into die-stamp engraving. It was his ambition that his firm not only would be the international center to distribute all new geographic information, but at the same time to become the international focus for gathering and disseminating of geographic information. To underline this ambition he changed the name of his firm into 'Justus Perthes Geographischer Anstalt', and also started to publish many wall map series and school atlases in foreign languages. To support this program he hired amongst others

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colorists. In 1935 the number of employees had risen to 144: 57 editors and cartographers, 86 printers and 1 female colorist. Because the documentation for the almanacs and the number of geographic publications and maps had grown to such a volume, a new library was opened in 1911 measuring some 500 m. To honour their contributions to the company, busts of August Petermann and Hermann Wagner were placed in the reading room. Bernhard Perthes complained to Hermann Wagner that PGM had become a scientific and academic journal under the editorship of Supan, resulting in a decrease of subscriptions of 2,810 in 1884 to 1,330 in 1908.

901:(210 cm × 102 cm (83 in × 40 in)), in which were drawn all then known routes of explorers between 1701 and 1863. The most important parts of the map, however, were the blanked areas, with the intention to stimulate explorers to explore them. The map was also meant to give the journal's readers the possibility to keep close track on the progress of explorers and to read about the explorations in new issues of PGM. This kind of initiatives were taken later also with regard to the Northeast Passage of the Arctic Ocean. 913:(1839-1902), Hermann Habenicht(1844–1917), Fritz Hanemann (1847–1877), Otto Koffmahn (1851–1916), Christian Peip (1843-1922) and Arnim Welcker (1840–1888). They became known as 'Petermann's school' or the 'Gotha school'. They put the crafts and lessons, that Petermann had learned with Berghaus, into practise, which resulted in unmatched cartographic images. The style – map lettering, relief representation, better engraving and colouring – became more uniform and influenced all new atlas publications of Perthes. 704:. Though Berghaus did not find the British scientific climate ripe enough for such publications he complied. His criticism was repeated half a century later by J.G. Bartholomew, who declared that British contributions to the geographic sciences mainly lay in ‘search’, while the German contributions mainly lay in ‘research’. For the second part of his atlas Johnston required the cooperation of Heinrich Lange and August Petermann, who therefore moved to Scotland in 1844 and 1845 respectively. 1103: 283: 493: 863:. In London he met with many geographers and explorers. Because he was fluent in German, French and English it was no trouble for him to be in such company. Forced by private worries in 1854 he complied with a request by Bernhardt Perthes (1824–1857) to work for his firm. Shortly after his move to Gotha the Duke of Gotha appointed him Professor in 1854 and in 1855 he became Doctor h.c. at the University of Göttingen. 417:

updated and sold. Therefore, it is possible that hardly any of the atlases produced in this time contains all issues that were printed as first edition. That the atlas sold so well may have been caused also by its relative small size of 35 cm × 29 cm (14 in × 11 in), which made it quite handy. Most maps used scales of 1:3,700,000, 1:925,000 and 1:850,000. Stieler used the French

370: 780:(1812-1873) was taken up by the problems of how to improve the inadequateness of geographic educational means. Eventually he ended up with Perthes, that wanted to publish a series of wallmaps. While cartographers like Friedrich von Stülpnagel and Christian Bär drew the outlines for the maps Sydow painted in the colours green for lowlands and brown-red for higher areas, a system still in use today. When 1812: 804:. To emphasize the contrast between text and atlas when describing landscapes he wrote in his introduction: "Even when text has to divide the subject of geography in several parts and to isolate it for systematic education in independent levels, it is preferably the task of the map to neutralize this division and to fuse the independent parts together into a wholeness". 940:) as second complement to PGM. Sometimes the articles in PGM and the yearbook overlapped each other. The yearbook contained predominantly statistical data, that Behm circumscribed as 'estimations'. As the data resulting from censuses became so abundant it was decided that they would be published bi-annually (with maps) in PGM (14 volumes in 1872–1904, 1909,1931). 887:. Though the first supplementary issues, the first being published in 1860, were only small booklets they soon became hefty books. The last supplementary issue nr. 294 was published in 1999. For researchers it is well to know that 10-year cumulative indexes on PGM were published, also containing index maps for all maps contained in PGM in the respective periods. 736: 1094:

and wall map series. After the unifaction of both the Germanies both publishing companies were unified again in 1992 under their old name ’Justus Perthes Verlag Gotha GmbH', later being sold by Stephan Justus Perthes to Ernst Klett Verlag Stuttgart, to strengthen its business. The publishing house existed then in Gotha until March 2016.

1089:. In 1980 the management was taken over by Stephan Justus Perthes, seventh generation publisher. This publishing firm specialized in wall maps and modern geographic educational tools and was successful not only in Germany, but also international. Its history still has to be written. The publishing company in Gotha, that was then part of 25: 711:, that were meant as supplements on several of the Perthes’ atlases. In 1854 the editorship of these annuals was taken over by his former pupil August Petermann. Probably this plus the fact that his son August in 1854 was not engaged by Perthes made Berghaus decide to break off his relationship with the publisher. 696:(Hydrography). This shows among other things the discovery of Von Humboldt that the river Casiquiare was the watershed between the rivers Orinoco and Rio Negro. In 1850 the big atlas was converted into a school atlas. This first thematical atlas had such a great influence in its time that the publisher 1093:

was expropriated by the state in 1953 and in 1955 renamed as 'VEB Hermann Haack Geographisch-Kartographische Anstalt Gotha'. For this reason Hermann Haack was recalled from retirement and until his death in 1966 led the company. The company was mainly known, for its (translations) of (school)atlasen

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and other Perthes’ atlases. PGM started in March 1855 with the then unbelievable high print run of 4,000 copies, with 1,000 subscriptions abroad. As so much information was coming into Gotha that it could not be published in the 40-page issues of PGM it was decided to start publishing the so-called

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As with many publication in that era, the ‘’Stieler’’ was published in issues. In 1823, the preliminary edition in 4 issues was completed and contained 50 maps. The demand for the atlas so outnumbered the number of copies produced that, during the publishing in 1816–23, the first issues were already

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Shortly after Stieler's death in 1836, Perthes posthumously published his 25-part map of Germany and surrounding countries on the scale 1:740,000. This was the first middle-scale map of Germany that was marketed by a private firm like Perthes, where an official large scale map was converted into an

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From the moment on that Bernhardt Perthes started to lead his firm it transformed from an ordinary publisher into an industrial business, as the production became too large to leave this to subcontractors. He bought new business premises and created departments for publishing, editing and drawing.

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The updating of the almanacs required a lot of documentation. This was the beginning of an almost fastidious documentation and exactness that was fertile ground for the later geographic establishment. In 1911, these documents were added to the library called ‘Bücherei der Geographische Anstalt von

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in April 1945 to hand it over on July 1 to the Soviet command. Fortunately only the Almanac archives have suffered from this occupation. The 'rest' of the very large Perthes collections was left as it was. After the German partition, 'Justus Perthes Gotha' was expropriated in January 1953 by the

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PGM was renowned especially in the 19th century for its unusual fast publishing of the reworked reports it received from explorers, and not only German ones, and that the reports were almost always accompanied by up-to-date maps. This also shows how valuable the contacts were that Petermann had

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After Bernhard Perthes had taken over the management he added departments for lithography, letterpress and bookbinding, that previously had been jobbed out. Only the colouring of the maps were still done by independent artisans. In 1881 the company employed 30 printers and 90 women or girls as

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and Carl Vogel. All of them prominent figures in their fields of interest. To prevent unwanted competition none of them was appointed to general manager. From his death onwards till Berhard Perthes took over in 1880 this role was reserved for Adolf Müller. During this period land was bought to

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The planning was such that the first edition of the atlas would be accompanied by a textbook. This was published, however, only in 1840-1846. While the preliminary edition was still being published, Friedrich von Stülpnagel (1786–1865), who also was responsible for the 2nd and 3rd edition, was

1263: : bis London, Havre de Grace, Tours, Lyon, Genua, Bologna, Pesth, Warschau, Königsberg u. jenseits Kopenhagen, nebst den Haupt-Routen durch das übrige Europa = Carte Des Postes Et Routes De L'Allemagne Et De La Plus Grande Partie De L'Europe (geographisch entworfen von Ad St) (1825) 543:

easy-to-use reference and travel map. This publication met with such a great demand that several editions were published up to the Second World War. Shortly after the death of Adolf Stieler, his map collection was bought by Wilhelm Perthes and added to his already rich company library.

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and a whole range of new symbols. He liked to project thematical content on top of topographic maps and was also very much interested in the right depiction of heights. Some maps of the first edition carry the signature "drawn and engraved in the ‘Geographische Kunstschule’

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he was very much taken with how it was decluttered from redundant toponyms and the way it was coloured. When Von Sydow's wallmap series in the 20th century was replaced by the series developed by Hermann Haack, the latter emphasized red for higher mountainous areas.

582:, but also in everlasting fame. As Bernhard Perthes, fourth generation publisher, worded in 1885: "While the direct profit was absolutely nothing –yes, even worse than that, the firm had to carry this failure for many years- the indirect profit was immense. The 878:(PGM). The promise, made in the first issue, that every issue of this journal would at least contain one map was kept till the journal ceased to appear in 2004. In the same introduction to the journal it is said that PGM was meant as being supplementary to the 847:(1822–1878) was trained by Heinrich Berghaus and in the third quarter of the 19th century was internationally acclaimed to be one of the most outstanding geographers/cartographers. Before he started working with Perthes he worked in 1845–46 in Schotland on the 1114:(185,000 maps, 120,000 geographical publications and approximately 800 metres business archives) were bought by the Free State of Thüringen and deposited in the Gotha-annex of the University of Erfurt. In 2010 the business premises and the accompanying land 1085:

communist GDR regime, after Dr. Joachim Bernhard Justus Perthes and his son Wolf Jürgen Justus Perthes had left the GDR late December 1952. They renewed their claim on 'Justus Perthes' in 1953 as 'Justus Perthes Geographische Verlagsanstalt Darmstadt' in

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From 1821 onwards the ’’Stieler’’ also was published as a school atlas. Until 1914 some 93 German and foreign editions of the school atlas would be published. In later years the ‘’Stieler’’ would be the basis for many other Perthes publications, as e.g.

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In 1902, J.G. Bartholomew wrote: "No other private firm has ever been associated with so many distinguished geographers and cartographers, or rendered such great services to geographical science by its high-class works as Justus Perthes of Gotha".

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Petermann was not only a geographer/cartographer, who could distil from many sources a realistic image of the world, but he also was a very good taskmaster who could transfer his abilities in this field to his pupils. Amongst others these were

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already revising the maps for the next edition. The first official edition of 1833 contained 75 maps. Through the years, the number of maps would increase and the final edition of 1925-1945 contained 254 main and auxiliary maps on 188 leaves.

1990:. Katalog zur Ausstellung der Universitäts- und Forschungsbibliothek Erfurt/Gotha im Spiegelsaal auf Schloß Friedenstein in Gotha, 23. Juni bis 9. Oktober 2005 (= Veröffentlichungen der Forschungsbibliothek Gotha 42). Gotha 2006, 127 p. 835: 718:

Dr. Heinrich Berghaus' Physikalischer Atlas oder Sammlung von Karten, auf denen die hauptsächlichsten Erscheinungen der anorganischen und organischen Natur nach ihrer geographischen Verbreitung und Vertheilung bildlich dargestellt

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Dr. Heinrich Berghaus' Physikalischer Atlas, Sammlung von 93 Karten, auf denen die hauptsächlichsten Erscheinungen der anorganischen und organischen Natur nach ihren geographischen Verbreitung und Vertheilung bildlich dargestellt

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with, their ever-changing political and administrative boundaries, did not form the right climate to do so, and it became a financial disaster. Justus Perthes, however, was not so easily daunted and soon agreed to a proposal by

1044:. Unfortunately the Second World War terminated this project before it was complete. In 1908 he began a carto-bibliographic supplement in PGM, that contained many reviews of maps. In 1941-1945 this was succeeded by the feature 1122:. This means the end to the 225-year history of this publishing house. But fortunately the Perthes archives, which survived all difficulties and wars intact, will be available to future scholars and interested parties. 1276:

Physikalischer Atlas : Oder Sammlung Von Karten, Auf Denen Die Hauptsächlichsten Erscheinungen Der Anorganischen Und Organischen Natur Nach Ihrer Geographischen Verbreitung Und Vertheilung Bildlich Dargestellt

870:. But at the intercession of Adolph Müller, who from 1857 onwards managed the firm of Perthes because Bernhard Perthes was born only 8 months after the death of his father Bernhardt, he started in 1855 the journal 308:. Only after the second 15-year lease in 1816 was Johann allowed to publish the almanac with the imprint of his own publishing house. The publication of the almanac as a Justus Perthes publication ceased in 1944. 484: 539:(23 editions 1824-1852). Besides the International edition (1934-1941) of the big ‘’Stieler’’ from 1851 onwards at least 12 foreign editions were published in the United States and several European countries. 653:

edited the third edition. Von Humboldt provided Berghaus with much data, that he had acquired during his explorations and Berghaus processed these into physical maps, for which he used many kinds of

413:(1758–1837), who later drafted part of the maps. Before the first issue of the atlas could be distributed in 1816, Justus Perthes died and was succeeded by his then 23-year-old son Wilhelm Perthes. 765:

the same scales were used as much as possible. Heinrich Theodor Menke edited many maps for the second and third (1909) editions. Foreign editions were published in London, Turin and New York.

1059:(47 maps, 1907–1930). A third series concerning physical geography was produced between 1913 and 1937, but success failed because of the high production costs. His last grand project was the 1217:

Until 1980/84 the Darmstadt company was led by Gerhard Vaeth and Werner Painke (cartography, a pupil of Hermann Haack), until Stephan Justus Perthes was ready to take over the management.

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Karte von Deutschland, dem Königr. der Niederlande, dem Kgr. Belgien, der Schweiz: mit den angränzenden Ländern, bis Paris, Lyon, Turin, Mailand, Venedig, Ofen, Königsberg, in XXV Blatt

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Justus Perthes,’ that already contained many maps and geographical publications. After the Second World War, the Soviet army destroyed the almanac archives to prevent claims of the

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established in his London period. PGM not only published the explorers reports but also was proactive when new explorations were called for. As an example we may have a look at

43: 1233: 1067:, but because of the Second World War this project soon ended. Hermann Haack retired in 1944, but this would not mean the end of his career as cartographer and publisher. 393:. In 1816, on Johann Georg Justus' death in Gotha, Wilhelm took over the firm and laid the foundation of the geographical branch of the business for which it is famous. 1032:. It was the second time that this was accompanied by a textbook. In 1934 he started on the ‘internationale Stieler'. For this projects a lot of maps were redrawn and 2097:

Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen, Geographische Zeitschrift und Geographischer Anzeiger. Eine vergleichende Analyse von Zeitschriften in der Geographie 1855–1945

2058:„Das Gesamtbild des Vaterlandes stets vor Augen“: Hermann Haack und die Gothaer Schulkartographie vom Wilhelminischen Kaiserreich bis zum Ende des Nationalsozialismus 2006:

Andree, Stieler, Meyer & Co. Handatlanten des deutschen Sprachraums (1800–1945) nebst Vorläufern und Abkömmlingen im In- und Ausland. Bibliographisches Handbuch

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Die Verräumlichung des Welt-Bildes. Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen zwischen „explorativer Geographie“ und der „Vermessenheit“ europäischer Raumphantasien

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Die Verräumlichung des Welt-Bildes. Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen zwischen „explorativer Geographie“ und der „Vermessenheit“ europäischer Raumphantasien

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Das Heilige Land in Gotha : der Verlag Justus Perthes und die Palästinakartographie im 19. Jahrhundert, Gotha : Forschungsbibliothek Gotha, 2014.

1220:(1992: Justus Perthes Gotha and Darmstadt sold to Ernst Klett Schulbuchverlag, Stuttgart. See www.perthes.de for more details (currently German only). 1024:(1872–1966) took up employment with Justus Perthes. He began with the editing of school atlases and from 1907 onwards he became the main editor of the 852: 697: 396:

In 1801, the company published its first geographical book with a map of Germany by Adolf Stieler. In 1809 they published their first atlas, but the

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Mittheilungen aus Justus Perthes' Geographischer Anstalt über wichtige neue Erforschungen auf der Gesammtgebiet der Geographie von Dr. A. Petermann

1572:; Eduard Leidenfrost; Erich Gottfried Edler; F. Hase; Friedrich J. Baumgarten; Friedrich ¬von Stülpnagel; Johann Christoph Bär; L. Thiel (1862). 2032: 2013: 1164:

Wilhelm joined his father's business in 1814. Before that time he had followed an apprenticeship in the publishing house of Justus's nephew

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Haack was especially renowned for the publication of his wallmap series, of which 250 items were planned. In 1903 he began with the series

951:, that would contain 24,512 reviews and bibliographic description of geographical books and articles, published between 1886 and 1909. 1959:. 2004. Vom geographischen Magazin zur popularen Fachzeitschrift - die einflussreichsten Jahren von PGM bis zum Ersten Weltkrieg. In: 1902: 315: 1119: 839:

Mittheilungen aus Justus Perthes' geographischer Anstalt über wichtige neue Erforschungen auf dem Gesammtgebiete der Geographie, 1855

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From 1790 onwards, Justus Perthes enlarged his publisher's list with obituary lists, histories, the circumnavigation of the earth by

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Geographisch-Statistisches Handwörterbuch über alle Theile der Erde mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Stieler'schen Hand-Atlasses

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Justus Perthes' Taschenatlanten (Taschenatlas vom Deutschen Reich, See-Atlas, Atlas Antiquus, Geschichtsatlas, Staatsbürger-Atlas),

558: 1817:, nach den Quellen bearbeitet von A. Petermann und B. Hassenstein, autographiert von E. Debes & A. Welcker, scale 1:2,000,000 331: 2079: 385:. In 1814, he was joined by his son Wilhelm Perthes (1793–1853) who had been in the publishing house of Justus's nephew 1156:, where he founded the publishing firm 'Justus Perthes' in 1785. The main business was the publication of the noble almanacs 35: 1210:

Dr. Joachim Perthes and Wolf Jürgen Perthes (1921–1964) ( 1953-1994: Justus Perthes Geographische Verlagsanstalt Darmstadt)

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Der Erde ein Gesicht geben. Petermanns geographische Mitteilungen und die Anfänge der modernen Geographie in Deutschland

262:. Justus Perthes was primarily a publisher of geographic and historic atlases and (educational) wall maps. He published 1165: 410: 386: 677: 1090: 997: 856: 1194:

provide accommodation for the departments for engraving, printing of copper plates and electrolytic reproduction.

302:. This almanac had been published since 1763 by Carl Wilhelm Ettinger in Gotha, and was the French version of the 1335: 1182: 844: 673: 502: 684:, except for Lange on Berghaus's own pocket. As compensation the pupils had to edit amongst others maps for the 1852: 1547:

Kleiner Schul-Atlas Über Alle Theile Der Erde Nach Dem neuesten Zustande: Nach Stieler's Hand-Atlas verkleinert

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Karte von Deutschland, Dem Koenigr. Der Niederlande, Dem Kgr. Belgien, Der Schweiz und den angränzenden Ländern

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Dr. Heinrich Berghaus' Physikalischer Schul-Atlas: acht und zwanzig in Kupfer gestochene und colorirte Karten

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and in 1847 moved to London. There he founded his own establishment in 1850. He was very active in the

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Justus Perthes. Grundlagen, Wirkungsfelder und Funktionen eines geographisch-kartographischen Verlages

1270: : bis Paris, Lyon, Turin, Mailand, Venedig, Ofen, Königsberg ; in XXV Blättern (1829–1836) 2081:

Petermann's Maps. Carto-bibliography of the maps in Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen, 1855-1945.

920:(1830–1884), who succeeded him after his untimely death as editor-in-chief. Following the example of 2021:

Petermann's Planet. A Guide to German Handatlases And Their Siblings Throughout the World 1800–1950,

1172:. He laid the foundation of the geographical branch of the business for which it is chiefly famous. 339: 1956: 985: 1498:

Handatlas über alle bekannte Laender des Erdbodens: Nach e. auf Naturgrenzen beruhenden Darst. ...

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In 1992 Justus Perthes Verlag was bought by Ernst Klett Schulbuchverlag in Stuttgart. In 2003 the

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Gothaisches genealogisches Taschenbuch der uradeligen häuser der in Deutschland eingeborene Adel

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were bought by the municipality of Gotha. The buildings were renovated and in 2014 reopened as

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The content of PGM became more science-oriented after 1880, especially under the editorship of

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Das „Wiederkehren des Fragezeichens in der Karte“. Gothaer Kartenproduktion im 19. Jahrhundert

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Eisen-Bahn-Atlas von Deutschland, Belgien, Elsass und dem nördlichtsen Theile von Italien

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Hand-Atlas über alle Theile der Erde nach dem neuesten Zustande und über das Weltgebäude

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Das Teutsche Reich vor der französischen Revolution und nach dem Frieden zu Luneville

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Many publications concerning geographic schooling and concerning geography in general

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as meaning that the atlas would be complemented with some maps in the style of the

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Kartographischer Monatsbericht aus Justus Perthes' Geographischer Anstalt in Gotha

1877: 1828: 1780: 1743: 1718: 1689: 1664: 1639: 1573: 1545: 1521: 1496: 1471: 1258: 781: 636: 612: 608: 1617: 1186: 1145: 1064: 967: 917: 726: 311:

In later years, another set of almanacs was published in the German language:

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Adolf Stieler's Hand Atlas über alle Theile der Erde und über das Weltgebäude

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Adolf Stieler's Hand Atlas über alle Theile der Erde und über das Weltgebäude

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Die Geschichte der Gothaer Geographischen Anstalt im Spiegel des Schrifttums

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Geographisches Jahrbuch zur Mittheilung aller wichtigern neuen Erforschungen

1141: 1081: 649:. Heinrich Berghaus edited the first two editions himself, while his nephew 620: 207: 1857:(in German). Hermann Haack Geographisch-Kartographische Anstalt Gotha. 1866 692:. E.g. this happened with map 2 from issue 2 of the second edition of the 1033: 654: 1602:"The philosophy of map-making and the evolution of a Great German Atlas" 1243: