Zur problematik der nationalatlanten

Summary

This article examines the concept and problems of "national atlases." The author points out that although the term "national atlas" is widely used, its meaning is not uniform, and the intellectual premises, purposes, and methods of compiling such cartographic works vary significantly across countries. The article uses the meeting of the "Commission on National Atlases" of the International Geographical Union, held in Moscow in August 1959, as a starting point to summarize the core issues discussed: the content, methodology, and future directions of atlases. The author argues that despite innovations in graphic design, no fundamental breakthroughs comparable to the introduction of isolines or the dot method have been achieved. The article emphasizes that the core problem of national atlases lies not in cartographic technique but in their intended purpose—whether to focus on spatial planning and analytical data presentation or to pursue geographical synthesis and regional understanding. The author proposes replacing the term "national atlas" with the more scientific and broader concept of "complex regional atlas," given the differences in country sizes, scales, and objectives. A comparison between the Belgian "Atlas de Belgique" and the German "Atlas of Lower Saxony" shows that they are not fundamentally different in nature, both serving the goal of rational land use and resource management. Finally, the article discusses the comparability of regional atlases, arguing that natural and cultural differences should be respected, but subjective differences can be minimized through agreements on map projections, symbols, and presentation methods, and it mentions specific suggestions such as the choice of vegetation map types.