Old Map of Zurich

Historical Background

The Limmat runs across the centre of this view, separating two closely built parts of Zurich. Bridges, waterside buildings and boats make the river the organising feature of the composition. Beyond the roofs, the enclosing walls and towers mark a clear boundary between the city and cultivated countryside.

Map Details

• Original title: Zurych; Tigurum, sive Turegum… vulgo Zurych
• Creators: Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg
• Publication: Cologne, 1581, as catalogued by the Bibliothèque nationale de France
• Type: Engraved bird’s-eye city view
• Edition note: The design is identified; the precise printing of the reproduced sheet is unconfirmed

The viewpoint combines a plan-like account of streets with the raised façades and roofs of a city prospect. It allows the viewer to follow routes through the built-up area while still recognising individual towers and larger churches. The repeated red roofs make the blocks of housing particularly easy to distinguish from gardens and open spaces.

Along the river, buildings crowd the banks and extend close to the bridges. Small craft give the water an active role in the picture. The enclosing defences, with regularly spaced towers, curve around the outer districts; beyond them, strips of cultivated land climb towards the hills. That contrast makes the limits of the sixteenth-century town immediately apparent.

An elaborate heraldic panel occupies the upper left, balanced by the Latin title at the upper right. The heading uses both classical and vernacular forms of Zurich’s name. At the bottom, two figures in contemporary dress bring the scale back from the city as a whole to its inhabitants.

This view belongs to Braun and Hogenberg’s series of city images. Its interest lies in the combination of close architectural observation and decorative presentation, rather than the conventions of a modern street map. The print preserves both the urban detail and the landscape around the walls.