The "Atlas of Switzerland"

Summary

Eduard Imhof describes the planning, contents and production of the printed Atlas of Switzerland, placing it within the development of topographic and thematic mapping and international national-atlas programmes. Commissioned by the Union of Swiss Geographical Societies in 1941 to prepare content plans and cost estimates, he recounts prolonged revisions and financial difficulties before federal support followed the discussions extending to 1961. ETH Zurich undertook scientific and cartographic preparation, an editorial commission directed the project, and the Federal Topographical Survey handled technical production and publication, with contributions from universities, public agencies and specialists. In 1965–1966, 21 plates containing over 80 maps appeared. The planned atlas comprises about 500 maps on 90 large loose-leaf plates, allowing individual plates to be updated. It covers physical geography, history, population, settlements, economic activities, transport, education, planning and regional landscapes. Whole-country maps use scales from 1:2,000,000 to 1:500,000, supplemented by larger-scale regional maps. Map text is German and French; commentary also appears in Italian and exceptionally Romansh. Imhof emphasizes comparisons between past and present conditions and relationships among geographical phenomena, and reports new thematic surveys prompted by the project. He explains its combination of thematic national coverage and detailed topographic landscape mapping, noting the value of Austrian atlas examples for planning its programme. The article discusses adapting symbols, diagrams, dots, isolines and flow representations to each subject, testing alternative designs, and placing coloured thematic information over subdued topographic bases. Plate 31 illustrates occupational structure in 1910 and 1960 through paired semicircle diagrams showing municipal population and predominant employment sectors. The production account covers reusable base maps, glass-layer engraving, colour-separated originals, colour sample sheets, offset printing and paper selection. Imhof presents the atlas as a collaborative synthesis of existing and new mapping intended for research, teaching, geographical understanding and national and regional planning.