Testimonies:

A legend to cadastral maps of Galicia

19-Century cadastral maps of Galicia are wonderful source for genealogists. They may help finding exact localization of ancestral house, show how big it was and how far it was from the synagogue. The extremely detailed maps—full of tiny lines, signs and abbreviations—are hard to interpret without access to the original map legends. Original map legends were published in German separately from the maps.
This is first translation to English of the map legends of the Austro-Hungarian cadastral maps. Below you can find all symbols from Zeichenmuster für die Katastralmappen published in 1849 (found on GesherGalicia) supplemented with a few symbols from later map legend, probably from early 20th century, which I’ve found in the Przemyśl Archives.

For possible issues with house localization see our earlier post on the maps of Drohobych.

GesherGalicia Map Room, szukajwarchiwach.pl, and the Przemyśl Archives provides scans of cadastral maps of numerous Galician towns. Still, there are thousands of more available only in the archives in Lviv, Przemyśl, Rzeszów, and Krakow, covering almost every town and village in Galicia. Feel free to contact us if you are interested in researching them.

 

 

Soil and field types

Ornamental garden Ornamental garden
Zier gärten
Orchards Orchards
Obst gärten
 vegetable gardens Vegetable fields
Gemüse Gärten
 vineyards Vineyards
Wein Gärten
 hop fields Hop fields
Hopfen Gärten
 saffron field Saffron field
Saffran Bau.
 citrus field Citrus field
Grapp bau.
 tobacco field Tobacco field
Tobak bau.
 dry meadow Dry meadow
Trokene Wiesen
 wet meadow Wet meadow
Naise Wiesen
 meadows with fruit trees Meadows with fruit trees
Wiesen mit Obstbäumen
 pastures Pastures (W.)
Weiden
 community pastures Community pastures (G.W.)
Gemeinde Weiden
 marsh Marsh
Sümpfe
 marsh with reeds Marsh with reeds
Sümpfe mit Rohrwuchs
agricultural land Agricultural land
Äcker
land with high iron content Agricultural land with high iron content (Rott)
Rott oder Trisch Äcker
 lands with fruit trees Land with fruit trees
Äcker mit Obstbäumen
 land with olive trees Land with olive trees
Äcker mit Öhlbäumen
 land with grapevines Land with grapevines
Äcker mit Weinreben
rice fields Rice fields
Reis felder
 brushwood Brushwood
Gestrippe
 english garden English garden
Englische Anlagen.
 chestnut forest Chestnut woods
Kastanien Wälder
 olive woods Olive woods
Oliven wälder
 sand and gravel pits Sand and gravel pits
Sand und Schotter Gruben
 clay pits Clay pits
Lehm gruben
 bog Bog
Torfstiche
 sea salt works Sea salt works
Meer salinen
 quarry Quarry
Steinbrücke
 desolate land, bare rock Desolate land (Oed.)
ÖdenBare rock (K.G.)
Nackte Felsen.
 groves Groves
Remisen
 mixed forest Mixed forest
 coniferous forests Coniferous forests
Nadelholz Wälder
J.M. young forest
JungmaisS.H. pole forest
StangenholzM.H. medium forest
MittelholzH.S. high tree plantation
Hochstämmig schlager
hardwood forests Hardwood forests
Laubholz Wälder
lakes, ponds, rivers, streams Lakes, ponds, rivers, streams
Seen, Teiche, Flüsse, und BächeLagoon
LagunenSluice gate
Ablass SchleussenSand bank
Sandbanke

Symbols

Buildings

 synagogue Synagogue
Synagoge
 church roman-catholic Roman-catholic church (or Greek-catholic)
Röm. kath. u. griech. unierte Kirche
 church greek-catholic Greek-catholic church
Griech. u. unierte Kirche
 church protestant Protestant church
Evangelische Kirche
 public building Public building
Öffentliche gebaude
 stone building Stone building
Steinerne gebaude
 wooden building Wooden building
Wirthschafts [Hölzerne-] Gebaude
stone residential building Stone residential building
Steinerne Wohngebäude
 wooden residential building Wooden residential building
Hölzerne Wohngebäude
 stone outbuilding Stone outbuilding
Steinerne Wirtschaftsgebäude
 wooden outbuiliding Wooden outbuilding
Hölzerne Wirtschaftsgebäude
 post office Post office
Posthaus
 foresters_house Forester’s house
Jägerhaus
 inn Inn
Wirthshaus
 ruins Ruins
Ruine
 stone windmill Stone windmill
Steinerne Windmühle
 wooden windmill Wooden windmill
Hölzerne Windmühle
 watermill Water mill
Mahlmühle
 sawmill Sawmill
Sägemühle
 

Borders

border country County border (of the Empire)
Ländergrenzen
 border state State border (eg. Galicia)
Kreisgrenzen
 bezirk border District (Bezirk, powiat)
Bezirksgrenzen
 border district Community (gemeinde, gmina)
Gemeindegrenzen
 

Roads

 highway with trench Highway with trench
Chaussée mit Graben
 highway without trench Highway without trench
Chaussée ohne Graben
 road with trench District road with trench
Verbindungswege mit Graben
road without trench District road without trench
Verbindungswege ohne Graben
 dirt route Dirt route
Prügelwege
 trail Bridle path
Saumwege
 path Path
Fusswege
 

Water related objects

 stone pile bridge Stone pile bridge
Steinerne Jochbrücke
 wooden pile bridge Wooden pile bridge
Hölzerne Jochbrücke
 wooden bridge with stone piles Wooden bridge with stone piles
Hölzerne Brücke mit steinernen Jochen
 pontoon bridge Pontoon bridge
Schiffbrücke
 stone dam Stone dam
Steindamm
 embankment dam Embankment dam
Erddamm
 dry trench Dry trench
Trockener Graben
 wet trench Wet trench
Nasser Graben
 stone weir Stone weir
Steinerne Wehre
 wooden weir Wooden weir
Hölzerne Wehre
 cistern Cistern
Zisterne
 stone well Stone well
Steinerner Rohrbrunn
 wooden well Wooden well
Hölzerner Rohrbrunn
 logs on river Logs on river
Holzschwemme
 log flume Log flume
Holzriesen
 wooden flotsam screening Wooden flotsam screening
Holzrechen
 water tank Water tank
Wasserhälter
 canal with sluice Canal with sluice
Canále mit Schleussen
 fascine Fascine
Faschinen Bau
 reaction ferry Reaction ferry
Fliegende Brücke
 stone dike Stone dike
Steinerne Uferversicherung
 wooden dike Wooden dike
Hölzerne Uferversicherung
 river direction River direction
Stromstrich
 brick acqueduct Brick aqueduct
Gemauerte Wasserleitung
 wooden acqueduct Wooden aqueduct
Hölzerne Wasserleitung
 anchorage Anchorage
Ankerplatze
 

Cemeteries

 cemetery with wall Cemetery with wall
Beerdigung Plätze mit Mauer
 cemetery with fence Cemetery with fence
Beerdigung Plätze mit Einplankung
 Jewish cemetery Jewish cemetery
Beerdigung Plätze der Israeliten
 

Fences

 hedgerow Hedgerow
Heken
 fence Fence
Zäune
 fence with stone columns Fence with stone columns
Zaun mit steinernen Pfeilern
 wall Wall
Mauer
 

Wayside objects

 column shrine Column shrine
Martersäule
 stone wayside shrine Stone wayside shrine
Steinerne Kapelle
 wooden wayside shrine Wooden wayside shrine
Hölzerne Kapelle
 stone wayside cross Stone wayside cross
Steinernes Kreutz
 wooden wayside cross Wooden wayside cross
Hölzernes Kreutz
 stone distance sign Stone distance sign
Steinerner Milezeiger
 wooden distance sign Wooden distance sign
Hölzerner Milezeiger
 stone signpost Stone signpost
Steinerner Wegweiser
 wooden signpost Wooden signpost
Hölzerner Wegweiser
 border stone Border stone
Grenzsteine
 border sign and cairn Border sign (cairn)
Grenz Zeichen (Hotter)
 gallows Gallows
Hochgericht
 

Other

 trigonometrical_point Trigonometrical point
Trigonometrischer Punkt
 graphical point Graphical point
Graphischer Punkt

Comments are closed.

June 6, 2016