Robin AMBROŽ, Jiří DROZDA, Šárka STEINOVÁ

Maps of deer-parks – specialized forestry maps and their changes in the course of time

Ambrož, R., Drozda, J., Steinová, Š.: Maps of deer-parks – specialized forestry maps and their changes in the course of time. Kartografické listy, 2017, 25 (2).

Abstract: Displaying of the forest has a special and important place in the history of cartography for several reasons. Large forest complexes can usually be found in the mountains and in earlier times were very often formed as an impenetrable barrier to travellers and were even of defensive importance; the layout of the forests has been relatively constant since the middle ages; trees, unlike agricultural crops, grow at one place for decades, which is why forests are always an important indicative element on maps. Forestry maps are not a matter of the past few centuries, but have been connected with forestry management from the very beginning of the history of the Czech lands. Both, the setting of the forests´ borders and the detection of their acreage were necessary for the registration of personal property and for the assessment of the forests´ value. These data were recorded in the urbarium and were subsequently used by map creators. These maps were at first created manually, later (approximately half of the 18th century) with the help of printing technologies. Afterwards, these maps served as a basis for even more specialized map works. Chase – this phenomenon of human activity in the landscape is most commonly associated with the Baroque era when the largest expansion of hunting facilities (deer-parks, pheasantries, etc.) took place. In this respect, the most prominent site in our territory was the area of Křivoklát. This article presents some of the specialized forestry maps from the Křivoklát region.

Keywords: forestry maps, chase maps, deer-parks, forest management, old maps, Křivoklát region