Franz Ludwig Güssefeld

Franz Ludwig Güssefeld
Portrait of Güssefeld published in 1808
Born	December 6, 1744 Osterburg (Altmark)
Died	June 17, 1807 (aged 62) Weimar
Nationality	German
Occupation	surveyor, cartographer, engineer, forester
Known for	Maps published by Homann Heirs
Religion	Lutheran
Spouse(s)	Johanna Christiana Brunquel (1744–1807)

Franz Ludwig Güssefeld (December 6, 1744–June 17, 1807) was a German cartographer. He is noted for his highly accurate maps which were mostly published by Homannsche Erben ("Homann Heirs") in Nuremberg.

Biography

Güssefeld was born in Osterburg and already had an interest in drawing and creating maps in his youth.^[1] When he failed to secure a position with the Prussian Corps of Engineers, he became a forester.

His 1773 map of Brandenburg was the first of over a 100 maps of his that were published by Homann Heirs.^[2] The high quality of Güssefeld's work is credited with saving Homann Heirs, a formerly famous publisher which before Güssefeld's arrival had been in an increasingly difficult position due to mismanagement.^[2]

During the final 18 years of his life, the Landes-Industrie Comptoir and Geographisches Institut von Bertuch in Weimar also published some of Güssefeld's maps. Güssefeld died of pulmonary edema in Weimar in 1807.^[1]

Gallery

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  United States (1784)

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  Lower Saxony (1786)

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  Africa (1797)

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  Asia (1805)

References

1. Bertuch, Friedrich Justin (1808). Allgemeine geographische Ephemeriden, Band 26. Weimar. pp. 255–262.
2. Seifert, Traudl, „Güssefeld, Franz Ludwig“, in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 7 (1966), S. 289 [Onlinefassung]; http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd12196695X.html

External links

• Media related to Franz Ludwig Güssefeld at Wikimedia Commons