WMS NW Maps of the Rhineland 1: 25 000; Tranchot/v. Müffling

Immediately after the occupation of the left Rhine regions by French Revolutionary Sheere in 1794, a topographical admission of these areas was undertaken by French engineers under the direction of Colonel Jean Joseph Tranchot. In 1801/09, Tranchot laid a triangular network covering the area west of the Rhine. According to the field pick sheets, the actual map sheets were drawn in a scale of 1:20,000 in multicolour. The Liberation War (1813-1815) put an end to the topographical recording work by the French officers. Through the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) and some subsequent treaties, the Rhineland and Westphalia were attributed to the Kingdom of Prussia. From 1817 onwards Prussian officers under the direction of the Major General Friedrich Karl Ferdinand Freiherr v. Müffling continued to take up the left Rhine areas and extended them further eastwards. However, the cards taken by the Prussian officers differ significantly from the French sheets, as they do not possess their fineness and richness of detail. Both maps of the Rhineland by Tranchot and by von Müffling were reserved exclusively for military use and were intended to derive general staff cards. 127 sheets with a map size of 50 cm x 50 cm, 21 sheets with a map size of 47 cm x 45 cm and 23 card sheets in special formats are reserved for the territory of North Rhine-Westphalia. — Stand: 06.06.2012