Modern trends in the development of complex atlases abroad

K. A. Salishchev examines Die Bundesrepublik Deutschland in Karten as an atlas intended for regional planning and design organizations, discussing its programme and first two instalments, issued in 1965 and 1966. Prepared by three federal institutions, it was planned as a loose-leaf publication of 93 sheets, with population and economic maps occupying most of its programme; the first two instalments contained 32 sheets. He highlights its detailed demographic and social coverage, temporal comparisons, practical soil maps and synthetic regionalization maps. His criticisms concern the unwieldy sheet sizes, inconsistent generalization for wall and desk use, excessive reliance on administrative units for statistical mapping, and the absence of explanatory commentary. He also rejects its treatment of state boundaries and post-1945 population movements on political grounds, citing the Potsdam decisions of 1945.