Celebration and exhibition marking the completion of the national maps of Switzerland

Summary

This report describes the ceremony and exhibition held in Bern on 20 February 1979 to mark completion of Switzerland’s national map series, quoting the principal speeches. Federal Councillor Rudolf Gnägi reviewed the 1935 legislation and the adoption of a multiscale series, outlining military, planning, scientific, and recreational uses. Ernst Huber, director of the Federal Office of Topography, traced wartime production delays, postwar technical and organizational changes, and the increasing priority given to updating existing maps. Publication of the final four 1:25,000 sheets completed nationwide coverage in a series of 249 sheets; its first systematic revision cycle had already ended in 1976. Huber anticipated that computer-assisted cartography could shorten the interval between aerial photography and map sales and advocated applying perceptual psychology, communication theory, and information theory to cartography. The report also describes the Swiss Alpine Club’s commemorative publication and an exhibition at Bern’s Alpine Museum presenting map production, revision, and applications.