Franz Ludwig Güssefeld (6 December 1744 – 17 June 1807) was a German cartographer. He is noted for his highly accurate maps which were mostly published by ''
Homannsche Erben'' (Homann Heirs") in
Nuremberg
Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
.
Biography
Güssefeld was born in
Osterburg and already had an interest in drawing and creating maps in his youth.
When he failed to secure a position with the Prussian Corps of Engineers, he became a forester.
His 1773 map of Brandenburg was the first of over 100 maps of his that were published by Homann Heirs.
[Seifert, Traudl, „Güssefeld, Franz Ludwig“, in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 7 (1966), S. 289 nlinefassung http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd12196695X.html] The high quality of Güssefeld's work is credited with saving Homann Heirs, a formerly famous publisher which before Güssefeld's arrival had been in an increasingly difficult position due to mismanagement.
During the final 18 years of his life, the ''Landes-Industrie Comptoir'' and ''
Geographisches Institut von Bertuch'' in
Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...
also published some of Güssefeld's maps. Güssefeld died of
pulmonary edema
Pulmonary edema (British English: oedema), also known as pulmonary congestion, is excessive fluid accumulation in the tissue or air spaces (usually alveoli) of the lungs. This leads to impaired gas exchange, most often leading to shortness ...
in Weimar in 1807.
Gallery
File:F. L. Güssefeld, Map of North America, 1784 cropped.jpg , United States (1784)
File:Güssefeld, Karte der Braunschweigischen Lande, 1786.jpg , Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...
(1786)
File:Africa 1797, Franz Ludwig Güssefeld (4017888-recto).png , Africa (1797)
File:F. L. Güssefeld, Map of Asia, 1805 cropped.jpg , Asia (1805)
References
External links
*
1744 births
1807 deaths
People from Osterburg (Altmark)
18th-century German cartographers
{{Cartography-stub