Kompass Karten is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n map

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

based in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

, which specialises in

hiking map In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but histori ...

s, and

guides A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Exp ...

, digital maps, and cycling maps and guides. Its range has over 1,000 titles.

History

The publishers was founded in December 1953 by Heinz Fleischmann under the name ''Fleischmann KG - KOMPASS Karten'' in Bavaria. In 1968 ''Mairs Geografischer Verlag'' became a shareholder in the firm that now took the name ''Fleischmann & Mair''. In 1996 the publishers became a subsidiary of the publishing group of MairDumont and its name was changed to ''Kompass Karten'' GmbH. Since 2002 the Tyrolean hiking map publishers, ''Walter Mayr'' has been part of KOMPASS Karten. In 2011 the firm had a turnover of around 12 M euros.

Products

KOMPASS has about 1,000 titles in its programme, including 700 hiking, cycling and ski touring maps. Just under 500 hiking maps have been published covering the hiking areas of Austria,

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, the Balearic and

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

. Hiking regions in the rest of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, the

Swiss Alps The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss ...

, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

have some coverage. The maps are mainly published at a scale of 1:25,000 or 1:50,000, with trails, footpaths and additional tourist information highlighted. The new generation of hiking maps is printed with c coordinate grid for GPS navigation. Since mid-2011 weatherproof and rip-resistant maps have been printed, gradually replacing the existing maps. KOMPASS-Verlag has just under fifty digital maps in its range, covering the whole of Austria, several walking areas in Germany, South Tyrol, the Canaries, the Balearics,

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

and

Elba Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National ...

. The digital maps are usable on PDAs and mobile phones using Java technology for outdoor navigation. The map material is at a scale of 1:50,000 zoomable to 1:10,000. Since 2009 there has been a cycling map series at a scale of 1:70,000. In 2011 a cycling guide series appeared. Both are printed on rip-resistant and weatherproof paper. The company also publishes hiking atlases, nature guides, panoramas, cookery books and ski tour guides.

Criticism

Occasionally criticism is expressed about Kompass hiking maps. This includes excessive highlighting of tourist symbols, sometimes missing latitude and longitude lines and, outside the German speaking countries, often a crude inaccuracy.Private Internet site
which compares the various walking maps for the ''

Grande Traversata delle Alpi The ''Grande Traversata delle Alpi'' (GTA) is a long-distance hiking trail in the Italian region of Piedmont. In about and 55 day hikes, it runs through the arc formed by the western Alps from the Pennine Alps through the Graian and Cottian Alp ...

''.

Awards

* In May 2007 KOMPASS Verlag was granted permission to use the Tyrolean coat of arms. * In March 2008 the 3D Outdoor maps by KOMPASS won the 2008 ITB Award for "best tourist mapping". * In March 2010 the hiking map series by KOMPASS won first place at the ITB in Berlin. * In 2012 the KOMPASS cycling guide series was given an ITB book award for the cycling cartography category.

References

External links

www.kompass.de

Kompass maps
{{Authority control Map publishing companies Publishing companies of Austria Austrian companies established in 1953 Publishing companies established in 1953