Constanz—Joseph Edmund Woerl’s 1850 portrayal of the Lake Constance region—stands as a refined achievement within his Atlas of Central Europe. Centered on the storied shores of Bodensee, the sheet unites German and Swiss cultural spheres, situating Konstanz and Freiburg to the north and west with Zurich, St. Gallen, and Lucerne arrayed along the alpine forelands. At a carefully judged 1:500,000, the composition balances regional sweep with intimate detail, guiding the eye along major rivers and across a terrain articulated by elegant hachures. Bathymetric lines and soundings lend the lake a quiet, sculptural depth, while the map’s clean lettering and restrained palette create an atmosphere of poised clarity. The result is a learned, lucid guide to a crossroads of trade, language, and landscape.

Woerl’s mastery lies in his early, assured use of two-color lithography. A red lithographic stone, overlayed with exceptional precision, brings instantaneous legibility to roads, emerging railways, and political separations, while black delineation does the work of names, contours, and hydrography. Relief is modeled with disciplined hachures that render the Black Forest’s serried slopes and the Alps’ approaching buttresses with tactile nuance. Bathymetric engraving gives Bodensee a living contour, echoing the passage of the Rhine across the basin. This modern printing sensibility—spare, functional, and beautiful—explains the map’s esteem among contemporary users and its later adoption by the German army, which prized such clarity for planning and reconnaissance.

The geography unfurls as a finely woven fabric of water, wood, and stone. Major rivers are tracked with steadfast care, their courses binding valleys and uplands and offering navigational logic to the entire sheet. Forested tracts are shaded with sympathetic modulation, distinguishing dense woodland from cleared terrain, while mountain ranges rise in a cadence of hachures that catches light like a chiseled relief. Canals thread through the lowlands as purposeful, rectilinear passages, signaling the era’s engineering ambition. Around Bodensee, bathymetric gradations suggest shelves, slopes, and sudden plunges, inviting a reading of the lake as both natural amphitheater and inland thoroughfare. This is a landscape at once intricate and intelligible, where every line performs a specific, legible role.

Human geographies are drawn with equal intelligence. Counties and provincial divisions are clearly defined, articulating jurisdictional seams at a time when borders still carried the imprint of shifting 19th-century politics. Towns and cities are ranked with contextual sensitivity, from Konstanz and Freiburg to Zurich, St. Gallen, and Lucerne—nodes in a network of roads that radiate like spokes toward markets, passes, and ports. Red-inked rail corridors, tentative yet confident, announce a new rhythm of movement along the Rhine valley and toward Swiss industrial centers. Fortifications appear as crisp signatures of strategic terrain, testifying to centuries of civic defense and control. Together, these elements describe a region in motion—commercially energized, technologically awakened, and historically grounded.

Constanz also speaks to Woerl’s cosmopolitan scope. Several atlas sheets bore French imprints, affirming a readership beyond German frontiers and mirroring the cross-border character of the Bodensee world. Within the atlas, an introductory sheet with title, inset, and demographic tables underscores a statistical, comparative method that deepens the geographic narrative to include people and power. That the series served the German army until around 1870 marks its extraordinary practical success, yet its allure now is equally artistic: a marriage of precision and restraint that reads as modern. Today, Constanz endures as both an authoritative regional reference and a luminous artifact of early industrial-age cartography.

Cities and towns on this map

• Constance (Konstanz)
• Freiburg
• Zurich
• St. Gallen
• Lucerne

Notable Features & Landmarks

• Rivers: Major rivers are labeled, indicating the waterways in the region.
• Mountains: Clearly depicted using hachures to represent elevation and terrain.
• Roads and Railroads: Extensive network of roads and railroads indicated in red.
• Cities and Towns: Various human settlements are marked throughout the map.
• Fortifications: Notable historical fortifications are represented.
• Canals: Illustrations of canals present in the landscape.
• Forests: Areas of forestation are depicted, contributing to ecological understanding.
• Political Boundaries: Clearly defined counties and provinces, showing political divisions.

Historical and design context

• Mapmaker/Publisher: Joseph Edmund Woerl (1850)
• Part of the “Atlas of Central Europe”: 60 sheets dissected into six sections, linen-backed; up to 45 × 52 cm
• Scale: 1:500,000
• Cartographic techniques: Color lithography; relief with hachures; depth via bathymetric lines and soundings
• Early two-color lithography: Red overlay printing used to emphasize features with high legibility
• Design elements: Detailed depiction of roads, railroads, counties, cities, towns, canals, fortifications, rivers, forests, and mountains
• Visual aspects: Red lithographic stone precisely registered for nuanced feature emphasis
• Historical significance: Among the earliest two-color lithographed maps; used by the German army until around 1870
• Cultural context: Some sheets bore French imprints, indicating cross-regional relevance
• Notable atlas detail: Sheet 8 includes a title page, an inset map, and demographic tables for provinces, towns, and islands
• Current relevance: Serves as both a geographic reference and a record of early 19th-century cartographic achievement

Please double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.

This map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 100in (250cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x16in (40x40cm) version of this map.

The fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.

If you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the best old maps to see if something else catches your eye.

Please contact me to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.

This would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.

This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.

For most orders, delivery time is about 3 working days. Personalised and customised products take longer, as I have to do the personalisation and send it to you for approval, which usually takes 1 or 2 days.

Please note that very large framed orders usually take longer to make and deliver. 

If you need your order to arrive by a certain date, please contact me before you order so that we can find the best way of making sure you get your order in time.

I print and frame maps and artwork in 23 countries around the world. This means your order will be made locally, which cuts down on delivery time and ensures that it won't be damaged during delivery. You'll never pay customs or import duty, and we'll put less CO2 into the air.

All of my maps and art prints are well packaged and sent in a rugged tube if unframed, or surrounded by foam if framed.

I try to send out all orders within 1 or 2 days of receiving your order, though some products (like face masks, mugs and tote bags) can take longer to make.

If you select Express Delivery at checkout your order we will prioritise your order and send it out by 1-day courier (Fedex, DHL, UPS, Parcelforce).

Next Day delivery is also available in some countries (US, UK, Singapore, UAE) but please try to order early in the day so that we can get it sent out on time.

Read my full delivery and local production guide

My standard frame is a gallery style black ash hardwood frame. It is simple and quite modern looking. My standard frame is around 20mm (0.8in) wide.

I use super-clear acrylic (perspex/acrylite) for the frame glass. It's lighter and safer than glass - and it looks better, as the reflectivity is lower.

Six standard frame colours are available for free (black, dark brown, dark grey, oak, white and antique gold). Custom framing and mounting/matting is available if you're looking for something else.

Most maps, art and illustrations are also available as a framed canvas. We use matte (not shiny) cotton canvas, stretch it over a sustainably sourced box wood frame, and then 'float' the piece within a wood frame. The end result is quite beautiful, and there's no glazing to get in the way.

All frames are provided "ready to hang", with either a string or brackets on the back. Very large frames will have heavy duty hanging plates and/or a mounting baton. If you have any questions, please get in touch.

See some examples of my framed maps and framed canvas maps.

Alternatively, I can also supply old maps and artwork on canvas, foam board, cotton rag and other materials.

If you want to frame your map or artwork yourself, please read my size guide first.

Alcune delle mie vecchie mappe sono ora disponibili come tele incorniciate. Per favore contattami se desideri ordinare una dimensione che non è disponibile nel mio negozio.

Le vecchie mappe su tela sono un'alternativa interessante alle mappe incorniciate in modo convenzionale. A seconda del tuo gusto personale e dell'arredamento della stanza, le mappe su tela possono "risaltare" un po' di più rispetto a una mappa incorniciata.

Scopri di più sulle mie mappe su tela incorniciate.

My maps are extremely high quality reproductions of original maps.

I source original, rare maps from libraries, auction houses and private collections around the world, restore them at my London workshop, and then use specialist giclée inks and printers to create beautiful maps that look even better than the original.

My maps are printed on acid-free archival matte (not glossy) paper that feels very high quality and almost like card. In technical terms the paper weight/thickness is 10mil/200gsm. It's perfect for framing.

I print with Epson ultrachrome giclée UV fade resistant pigment inks - some of the best inks you can find.

I can also make maps on canvas, cotton rag and other exotic materials.

Learn more about The Unique Maps Co.

Map personalisation

If you're looking for the perfect anniversary or housewarming gift, I can personalise your map to make it truly unique. For example, I can add a short message, or highlight an important location, or add your family's coat of arms.

The options are almost infinite. Please see my map personalisation page for some wonderful examples of what's possible.

To order a personalised map, select "personalise your map" before adding it to your basket.

Get in touch if you're looking for more complex customisations and personalisations.

Map ageing

I have been asked hundreds of times over the years by customers if they could buy a map that looks even older.

Well, now you can, by selecting Aged before you add a map to your basket.

All the product photos you see on this page show the map in its Original form. This is what the map looks like today.

If you select Aged, I will age your map by hand, using a special and unique process developed through years of studying old maps, talking to researchers to understand the chemistry of aging paper, and of course... lots of practice!

If you're unsure, stick to the Original colour of the map. If you want something a bit darker and older looking, go for Aged.

See some amazing examples of Aged maps.

Se non sei soddisfatto del tuo ordine per qualsiasi motivo, contattami per un rimborso senza problemi. Si prega di consultare la nostra politica di reso e rimborso per ulteriori informazioni.

Sono molto sicuro che ti piacerà la tua mappa restaurata o la stampa d'arte. Lo faccio dal 1984. Sono un venditore Etsy a 5 stelle. Ho venduto decine di migliaia di mappe e stampe d'arte e ho oltre 5.000 recensioni reali a 5 stelle.

Utilizzo un processo unico per restaurare mappe e opere d'arte che richiede molto tempo e lavoro. Trovare le mappe e le illustrazioni originali può richiedere mesi. Utilizzo tecnologia all'avanguardia e incredibilmente costosa per scannerizzare e restaurarle. Di conseguenza, garantisco che le mie mappe e stampe d'arte siano superiori alle altre - ecco perché posso offrire un rimborso senza problemi.

Quasi tutte le mie mappe e stampe d'arte sembrano fantastiche a grandi dimensioni (200 cm, 6,5 piedi+) e posso anche incorniciarle e consegnarle a te, tramite un corriere speciale per oggetti di grandi dimensioni. Contattami per discutere delle tue esigenze specifiche.