Old Map of Gdańsk by Matthäus Seutter, c.1740

Matthäus Seutter’s Map of Gdańsk

Published in Augsburg around 1740, this old map of Gdańsk combines two complementary views of the Baltic port. The upper section is a detailed fortified plan, while the lower panorama shows the city’s towers and waterfront buildings as they appeared to an approaching traveller.

Map Details

• Original title: Dantiscum
• Cartographer and publisher: Matthäus Seutter
• Place of publication: Augsburg
• Approximate date: Circa 1740
• Area shown: Gdańsk, its fortifications and surrounding waterways
• Orientation: North indicated by a compass rose
• Additional feature: Panoramic city view
• Format: Hand-coloured copperplate engraving
• Historic names: Dantiscum and Danzig

Gdańsk, Danzig and Dantiscum

The map uses Dantiscum, the Latin name for Gdańsk, while the accompanying German text calls the city Dantzig. These names reflect its international importance and the mixture of languages encountered in the port.

At the time of publication, Gdańsk formed part of Royal Prussia within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It enjoyed extensive privileges and considerable control over its municipal affairs, trade and defences. The map predates the city’s annexation by Prussia in 1793 by more than half a century.

A City Divided into Distinct Quarters

Seutter uses contrasting colours to separate the principal areas of the city. The Rechte Stadt, or Main Town, occupies the central pink section. This was the commercial and civic heart of Gdańsk, containing many of its most important streets, churches and public buildings.

The Alt Stadt lies immediately to the north, while the Vor Stadt extends to the south-west. The Nieder Stadt, or Lower Town, appears to the east within its own defensive perimeter.

Between the main city and the eastern districts lies the long, narrow granary island. Its position beside the Motława allowed grain and other goods to be transferred between warehouses and ships. This commercial landscape was fundamental to Gdańsk’s prosperity.

Walls, Bastions and Water Defences

A formidable ring of angular bastions surrounds the urban quarters. Their projecting points allowed defenders to cover the walls with overlapping fields of fire, while broad moats and channels formed additional barriers.

The plan also shows a second fortified area north of the city and smaller outworks guarding roads and waterways. A lettered key identifies important bastions, gates and defensive positions.

Water is treated as part of the defensive system as well as a means of transport. Channels divide the urban districts and connect the city with the Vistula and the Baltic trading routes beyond.

The Panoramic View of Danzig

The panorama beneath the plan forms an architectural portrait of eighteenth-century Gdańsk. Seutter labels prominent churches, gates and towers across the skyline, allowing viewers to connect individual buildings with the street plan above.

St Mary’s Church dominates the centre with its immense tower. Other church spires, civic buildings and gateways rise above the closely packed roofs, conveying the density and wealth of the old trading city.

The combination of plan and panorama makes the engraving particularly informative. One section explains how Gdańsk was organised and defended; the other shows how its skyline appeared before later political upheaval, industrial development and wartime destruction transformed the city.