Adam Friedrich Zürner (15 August 1679 – 18 December 1742) was a German cartographer and

geometrician A geometer is a mathematician whose area of study is the historical aspects that define geometry, instead of the analytical geometric studies that becomes conducted from geometricians. Some notable geometers and their main fields of work, chr ...

. In the 18th century, he served as the royal commissioner for lands and boundaries of the

Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

. He produced more than 900 maps.

Biography

On 15 August 1679, Zürner was born in as the second son to pastor Adam Zürner. His interest in geography was realized during his homeschooling. He attended the

Latin school The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Other terms used include Lateinschule in Germany, or later Gymnasium. Latin schools were also established in Colon ...

Oelsnitz, Vogtland Oelsnitz (; ) is a town in the Vogtlandkreis district, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the White Elster river, south of Plauen and southwest of Zwickau. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Oelsnitz belonged to the margraves of Meissen Th ...

, the gymnasium in

Hof, Bavaria Hof () is a town on the banks of the Saale in the northeastern corner of the German state of Bavaria, in the Franconian region, at the Czech border and the forested Fichtel Mountains and Franconian Forest upland regions. The town has 47,296 in ...

, the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

, and then the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

in 1703, which he graduated from as

Master of Theology Master of Theology (, abbreviated ThM, MTh or MTheol, or ''Sacrae Theologiae Magister''; abbreviated STM) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a ...

in 1704. He served as a pastor in the

Großenhain Großenhain (; also written as Grossenhain; , ) is a Große Kreisstadt (German for major district town) in the district of Meissen, Saxony, Germany. It was originally known as Hayne. The current name simply means "big Hayne". History Großenhain ...

amt. In 1711, seeking the interest of

Augustus II the Strong Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the H ...

, he mapped the amt, with it being published in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Peter Schenk the Elder Petrus Schenck, or Pieter, or Peter Schenk the Elder (baptized: 26 December 1660 – between 12 August and 17 November 1711) was a German engraver and cartographer active in Amsterdam and Leipzig.Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721. ...

used

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

instead of

Tartary Tartary (Latin: ''Tartaria''; ; ; ) or Tatary () was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bounded by the Caspian Sea, the Ural Mountains, the Pacific Ocean, and the northern borders of China, ...

, a practice that became common. On 12 April 1713, he was commissioned by Augustus to map the entire

. On 4 March 1716, he was appointed ''Churfürstlich Sächsischer Königlich Polnischer Geograph'' by Augustus; his service secured his membership at the

Prussian Academy of Sciences The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences () was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin Academy" may also refer. In the 18th century, when Frenc ...

the same year. After 1721, he served as the geographical royal commissioner of the electorate until his death. His assistant was and held correspondence with . His ''Neue Chur Sæchsische Post Charte'' (1715) was published by and ''Atlas saxonicus novus'' by Peter Schenk the Younger, with the latter first surfacing in 1752.

Sources

;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zurner, Adam Friedrich 1679 births 1742 deaths People from Saxony Leipzig University alumni University of Wittenberg alumni 18th-century German cartographers German geometers Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences