Sebastian Münster’s Cosmography: Making Maps and Imaging Germany

Lecture Series

06. März 2025

Akademiegebäude am Gendarmenmarkt, Einstein-Saal, Jägerstraße 22/23, 10117 Berlin

Sebastian Münster’s “Cosmographia”, first published in 1544, became the most influential cosmography of the 16th century, making complex geographical knowledge accessible to a broad audience.

In 1992, I published a new edition of Münster’s New World map, analysing the production of his woodcut illustrations. Initially seen as a mere compiler of lost maps, Münster should be recognised as a pioneering mapmaker. His “Cosmographia” remains captivating to both historical and modern audiences. This raises key questions: How did a scholarly description of the whole world become a commercial success? How did Münster, a reserved scholar, transform cosmography into a popular text for the German public? How can we evaluate his influence?


REGISTRATION

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LECTURE WITH DIALOGUE

Sebastian Münster’s Cosmography: Making Maps and Imaging Germany

  • Zsolt G. Török, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest

Discussant:

  • Petra Svatek, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien

THE LECTURE SERIES

Maps and Mapping in Global History and Culture II

22 January 2025, 6 p.m.

Panel discussion

How Plague became Globally Visible – Mapping as Method in Modern Western Medicine

6 March 2025, 6 p.m.

Lecture with Dialogue

Sebastian Münster’s Cosmography: Making Maps and Imaging Germany

27 March 2025, 6 p.m.

Lecture with Dialogue

Thematic Mapping in 18th to 19th-century Germany 

8 April 2025, 6 p.m.

Roundtable

House Models for the Living and the Dead across Ancient Eurasia: Synchronicities and Diachronicities of Cross-Cultural Typologies

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