War of the Austrian Succession (1740-8)
Includes much of the mapping collected by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, as Captain General of the British army
Giessen and Hesse-Darmstadt, 1745
HASSIAE SVPERIORIS ET WETTERAV. PARTIS DELINEATIO, CVM DESCRIPTIONE CASTORVM PROPE GIESSAM ET CONIVNCTIONIS AD / VRBAM TRAVNICI ET BATIANICI EXERCITVM
published 1746Engraving and etching; printed on paper; hand-coloured | Scale: 1:173,800 approx. | RCIN 729121
A map of Hesse showing the march routes of the Austrian army and campsites in 1745. War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48). Oriented with north to top.
In June 1745, the Empress Maria Theresa ordered Traun out of Bavaria to join forces with Batthyany on the Rhine in order to counter the build-up of French troops, commanded by the Prince of Conti, near Frankfurt. Centred on Giessen, this map shows the marches of the two Austrian armies as they travelled along what are today's motorway routes (E40) as well as the minor roads from Heger (Haiger 50°45'00"N 08°13'00"E), in the north-west, through Dillenberg (50°44'00"N 08°17'00"E), Herborn (50°41'00"N 08°19'00"E), Aßlar (50°3529"N 08°27'45"E), Laubach (50°32'31"N 08°59'25"E), Schotten (50°30'00"N 09°08'00"E), Gedern (50°26'00"N 09°12'00"E) and Birstein (50°21'00"N 09°18'00"E). Traun and Batthyany joined forces at the camps around Gelnhausen (see RCIN 729120), about 50 km (31 miles) north-east of Frankfurt, and about 20 km (12.5 miles) south-west of Birstein.
Homann's Heirs (1724-1848) (publisher) [top right, following on from dedication:] Excudentibus Homannianis Heredibus. A.o 1746. C.P.S.C.M.
Christoph Maximilian Pronner (1682-1763) (cartographer)
Ludwig VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (1691-1768) son of Ernst Ludwig, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (dedicatee)
Watermark: None
Condition: one fold line. Verso: bottom, unsightly water-stained patch, shadow and fragments from the removal of Cumberland's cipher label [?VOL. VI. 58]
Scale: 1:173,800 approx. Scale bar: Milliar. Germ. XV. unius Gr. [66 mm =] 1½.
46.5 x 55.8 cm (image)
partly cropped and not visible (platemark)
42.3 x 54.3 cm (neatline)
47.5 x 57.2 cm (sheet)
Printed title:
HASSIAE SVPERIORIS ET WETTERAV. PARTIS DELINEATIO, CVM DESCRIPTIONE CASTORVM PROPE GIESSAM ET CONIVNCTIONIS AD / VRBAM TRAVNICI ET BATIANICI EXERCITVM, [top, outside neatline]
Dedication:
SERENISSIMO PRINCIPI ac DOMINO, DN.o LVDOVICO, HASSIAE LANDGRAVIO, PRINCIPI / HERSFELDIAE, etc. etc. etc. humillime oblata a CHRISTOPH MAX. PRONNER. [top, following on from title, to Ludwig VIII (1691-1768), Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt 1739-68]
Insets:
[top left, a vignette:] COLLEGIVM in alma LVDOVICIANA. [Bottom left:] EHREN - PFORTE / beÿ I.ten Universitæts IVBILAEO. / Invenit Dominus I.G. Liebnecht, / Math P.P. ordin. Giesæ. [Bottom right, a low perspective view of Giessen taken from the west or north-west, with the arms of Giessen flanked by terrestrial and celestial globes with, to the left, the arms of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt, flanked on the left by a cherub holding an upright sword in his left hand against a background of the accoutrements of war.]
Annotations:
George III heading: Encampments near Giessen and junction of Traun's and Bathyani's Armies, 27 June 1745.
Other annotations: (Recto) none. (Verso) [bottom, left of centre, black pencil:] 58 [and, erased:] upper Hesse [?] 1745 [?] 17[?]; [top right, ink:] 9.; [right, ink:] 9.; [right centre, red pencil:] 58.
George III catalogue entry:
Giessen Hassiae Superioris et Wetteravia partis Delineatio, cum Desriptione Castrorum prope Giessam, et conjunctionis ad Urbam Traunici et Batianici Exercituum, 27 Junii 1745, a C.M. Pronner, apud Homanni Heredes, 1746.
Subject(s)
Giessen, Hesse, Germany (50°35'00"N 08°39'00"E)
Bibliographic reference(s)
Published in Atlas Germaniae Specialis seu Systema Tabularum Geographicum ... Norimbergae, 1753, VI, no. 9:
R. Shirley, Maps in the atlases of the British Library; a descriptive catalogue c A.D. 850-1800, 2 vols, London 2004, T.HOM-8a
Page revisions
14 March 2024
Current version
