Surveying of the coast gets under way, with Rick and Wibe triangulating their way across the Trondheimsfjord until they reach Kristiansund in early autumn. Wibe’s brother, Nils Andreas, follows in their wake, taking measurements at sea. He draws maps on which he marks lights, stakes and other sea markers, measures the tides and currents, and describes ports and notes ‘with which wind one may come in and out.’
In 1786, Rick has married and moved to Oslo; Wibe continues on towards Molde, triangulating the area alone, and General von Huth is once again worried about his budget. Von Huth would rather survey the stretch of the country between Kongsvinger and Trondheim in detail than map the coast, and so in 1787 the work started by Rick and Wibe is stopped. The following year, however, the Admiralty finds funds to continue the project. The Wibe brothers triangulate their way down the coast, while Danish lieutenant Carl Frederik Grove takes over responsibility for the measurements at sea from Molde towards the south.
In 1791, the Wibe brothers establish a new prime meridian in Bergen, which they use right up until they reach Kristiansand four years later. Here, they build an observatory and measure yet another meridian in their work up towards Agder, Telemark, Vestfold and Oslo, and down through Østfold to the Iddefjord and the Swedish border. Once the triangulation project and nautical survey have been completed Grove starts to draw maps, completing the first in 1791: Trondheims Leed med Ud-øerne og Skiærene udenfor Leedet fra Haltens Øe og til Christiansund (Trondheim’s Waters with the Outermost Islands and Reefs Beyond from Halten to Kristiansund). A total of seven maps, engraved on copper and printed in Denmark, were published between 1791 and 1803, and are today known as ‘De groveske drafter’ (‘Grove’s drafts’). The king expressed his ‘utmost pleasure’ upon viewing the maps.
Two maps of Norway in ‘square mile’ format, of Enningdalen in Østfold (1775) and Øyeren in Akershus (1802). All the white areas on the map of Enningdalen belong to Sweden–the red and yellow line is the international border. This is the first map of its kind to be drawn out of a total of 210. The series covers most of Østfold, and parts of Akershus and Hedmark all the way up to Sør-Trøndelag. Reling Öen, Elver Sand, Qvae Holmen and Raas Holmen in northern Øyeren look rather different today, since the area is a continually changing delta.
1814 | In 1805, a resolution to undertake a combined military and economic survey is passed–much to von Huth’s despair. Von Huth fears that the military will be deprioritised–the Rentekammeret, the Ministry of Finance, is taking over responsibility for the project, despite the fact that the survey will be performed using the same methods as previously. The agency changes its name to Den combinerede militaire og oekonomiske Opmaaling (the Combined Military and Economic Survey). The economic part of the project will involve the marking of all borders between properties, fields and pastures, along with area calculations for each property. But not everyone wants to be surveyed. A collective of farmers from Hedmark send a request to the National Assembly, at work on preparing Norway’s constitution, in 1814: ‘Our farms, which we have rightly and legally inherited from our forefathers, we most humbly request should not be surveyed; when another has the right to survey my property, then my rights to the property cease.’ The farmers feared that the maps would be used to increase their taxes–but the economic survey was cancelled that same year due to insufficient funding.
In parallel with the coastal survey, the surveyors also follow in Rick and Wibe’s footsteps along the Swedish border in order to enter further details on the trigonometric network. In addition to drawing maps, they note where there are opportunities to cultivate new fields; whether the locals practise arable farming, breed livestock, produce timber or fish; the condition of the roads; and whether any metal ores are present in the bedrock.
The surveyors also triangulate the areas stretching from Kongsvinger and southwards down to Enningdalen, and the network from Kongsvinger is connected to the coastal survey through triangulation in the areas of outer Østfold and Romerike. They then continue with the areas west of the Glomma River: from Eidsvoll to Oslo, Hadeland, Ringerike, Modum and Eiker, across the Mjøsa lake to Ringsaker, Vardal and Toten in 1806, down the west side of the Mjøsa and back to Eidsvoll, and finally Gudbrandsdalen, Valdres, Jarlsberg and Larvik in 1807. But then a new war with Sweden not only puts a stop to the work but sends the survey into a state of chaos–officers take original maps out into the field, where they are destroyed or lost, key persons are killed, and the military requisitions the project’s drawing room to provide premises for a garrison school. When the war is over, not a single person possesses a complete overview of the project’s activities.
After the peace treaty was signed in 1814, and Denmark ceded Norway to Sweden, all Danish maps of Norway were also transferred to Sweden. King Carl Johan also requested a joint, general map of the two countries, and in 1818 two surveyors each worked on their side of the border to link together the Norwegian and Swedish networks of triangles.
At this time, plans were also under way to create a coastal map of the northernmost regions of the country. This would not only prove useful for the shipping industry; it was also desirable to establish the position of the Norwegian–Russian border–but due to budgetary constraints Parliament was unable to grant funds for this purpose before 1824. Four years later, the surveyors of the northern counties are equipped with three small boats, all in a ‘most mediocre condition’, of which two were previously used as postal boats. They start at the outermost end of the Trondheimsfjord, triangulating their way up to the Namsenfjord before winter arrives. They reach the Arctic Circle and the island of Hestmannen the following year, and then Nesna, Gildeskål, Engelvær, Lødingen, Vesterålen, Senja and Loppa. They round the North Cape in 1837, and finally–ten years after setting out on their voyage–they reach the Russian border.
The maps of northern Norway highlight the fact that ‘Grove’s drafts’ from 1803 no longer satisfied the requirements of an expanding shipping industry and the cartographers of the age. In 1847, it was decided that the coast between Trondheim and Oslo would be mapped once again, and four years later, the Sømandsforeningen (Seaman’s Association) in Porsgrunn demanded that a more detailed map of the Oslofjord also be created.
THE OBSERVATORY | The modern mapping of Norway continues with increasing accuracy–the surveyors fine-tune the calculations of their predecessors, uncover errors and inaccuracies, remeasure and retriangulate, add more and more details–and even, on rare occasions, find funding to purchase more advanced instruments. The combination of the country’s rather lean public treasury and demanding topography is a constant challenge, in contrast to Denmark, which with its relative wealth and easily navigable landscape had been able to be mapped by the surveyors simply taking a stroll through the countryside. The Norwegian solution was to turn the country’s disadvantages into benefits. A map showing all the triangulation points from 1779 to 1887 shows that most were located on mountaintops, and from Gaustatoppen–which on a clear day offers a view of one-sixth of Norway’s land mass–as many as twenty-three baselines radiate out in all directions.
The increasing accuracy of the mapping project was also due to professor of mathematics Christopher Hansteen being made director of the project in 1817, and thereby responsible for the civil and scientific side of the survey. He was a driving force in ensuring both the provision of more detailed instructions to the surveyors and the procurement of new instruments, his dream being to establish a state-of-the-art observatory. Since 1815, the survey project had made use of a small, octangular observatory just south of Akershus Fortress, but as this was really little more than a shack, Hansteen often chose to make his observations at home, from his garden.
In 1830, the Norwegian Parliament grants funding for the construction of an observatory on a small plot at Solli, just outside the capital–its cornerstone features the inscription ‘Et nos petimus astra’ (‘Also we are seeking the stars’), and Hansteen made good use of the stars when he sought to put N
orway on the map by finding the observatory’s accurate latitude and longitude values. In 1848, after completing thousands of celestial observations, Hansteen is satisfied with his result of 59 degrees 54 minutes 43.7 seconds north.
The Round Tower in Copenhagen became the basis for comparison when attempting to determine the observatory’s longitude and, in the summer of 1847, twenty-one precision clocks are sent back and forth between Oslo and Copenhagen by steamer in order to measure the variations in time between the astronomical observations. The results of 119 comparisons show that Hansteen’s observatory is situated seven minutes and twenty-five seconds west of the Round Tower. This prime meridian then formed the basis from which all longitude values on Norwegian maps were ascertained, right up until the international prime meridian was established at Greenwich in 1884.
SCHOOLS AND TOURISM | In 1832, Hansteen becomes the first director of Norges geografiske Opmaaling (the Geographical Survey of Norway) not to have come from a military background–change is afoot in terms of both the function and distribution of maps. No longer are maps the sole preserve of the state, military, traders and maritime personnel–they are increasingly becoming a part of everyday life for more and more members of society. This is connected to the gradual changes being made to the school system–and a slight increase in wealth that enables an increasing number of people to go on holiday.
The world’s first travel agency, the British company Cox & Kings, was established in 1758 and, two years later, J. H. Schneider published the first atlas for children: Atlas des enfants consists of simple maps, with many accompanied by question-and-answer-style texts to teach children about each of the various countries’ climate, system of government, religion, clothing, cities and more.
In Norway, geography became a part of children’s schooling when Ludvig Platou published the school atlas Udtog af Geographien for Begyndere (Excerpts from Geography for Beginners) in 1810, Carl Bonaparte Roosen drew his Kart over Norge til Brug ved Skoleunderviisning (Map of Norway for Use in School Teaching) in 1824, and Georg Prahl published the Kart over den sydlige Deel af Kongeriget Norge, udarbeidet til Platou’s Lære og Haandbog i Geographien (Map of the Southern Part of the Kingdom of Norway, Prepared for Platou’s Handbook for the Study and Teaching of Geography) in 1836. The subject was formalised through the new Education Act of 1860, which stated that the objective of schooling was not only to give students the Christian education necessary for confirmation, but also to provide them with ‘the knowledge and skills that should be possessed by every member of society.’ Chapter 2, paragraph 5 of the act stated that students should understand ‘selected sections of the textbook, and primarily those relating to the description of the Earth, the natural sciences and history.’
In 1863, Peter Andreas Jensen, a priest and author from Bergen, published the Læsebog for Folkeskolen og Folkehjemmet (Textbook for Elementary School and Home), which contains the following passage about the Earth:
If we were able to see the entire Earth at once, we would find that it is round like a ball, and not flat like a baking stone, as many may still believe. The reason the Earth looks flat to us is because we are only able to see a very small part of its surface. […] In order to see the Earth’s shape and its entire surface at once, we can draw its land and water on a ball, which is then called a globe. If you cut this down the middle, from the North Pole to the South Pole, this forms hemispheres–the eastern hemisphere and the western hemisphere. These hemispheres can also be drawn on a flat sheet of paper, to create a planiglobium or a world map. Such a map can be found in every well-equipped school, and on it your teacher will show you the large areas of land and sea that you will now hear more about.
The section ends with a footnote: ‘The following sections should not be studied in school without the teacher allowing the children to follow along on the wall map.’ The children may then read about the difference between the mainland, peninsulas and islands, and the old world and the new. The most important countries to learn about are listed as Sverige (Sweden), Danmark (Denmark), De britiske Lande (Britain), Holland og Belgien (Holland and Belgium), Frankrige (France), Spanien og Portugal (Spain and Portugal), Italien (Italy), Schweiz (Switzerland), Tyskland (Germany), Det preussiske Rige (the Kingdom of Prussia), Østerrige (Austria), Tyrkiet (Turkey), Grækenland (Greece) and Rusland (Russia). Asia, Africa, America and Australia are then each represented with their own chapter. About Ny-York (New York), the book states: ‘Many of our countrymen also arrive here, seeking a new home in this part of the world.’
New methods of transport mean that people move around more than they used to, but the unavailability of good maps results in a market for travel handbooks that provide the distances between various places and the locations of coaching inns. As early as 1774, Danish writer Hans Holck published his Norsk Veyviser for Reysende (Travellers’ Guide to Norway), a fairly inaccurate overview of the distances and travel fares charged along the main roads between the cities of Bergen, Oslo, Stavanger and Trondheim.
The situation improved when Jacob Lehmann published the Landeveiene mellem Norges Stæder (Country Roads Between Places in Norway) in 1816, and a survey to measure the lengths of the roads started the same year. But the farmers protested at this–and for good reason–because the survey resulted in the roads being listed with shorter distances, thereby reducing the fares the farmers were able to charge for a lift. Many responded by scribbling out the distances given in local handbooks. ‘Long have we lacked a reliable road map of Norway,’ lamented Hermoder magazine in 1822–but seven years later the magazine’s prayers were answered when Lieutenant C. H. P. Lund published his Veikart over Norge (Road Map of Norway)–even if this only covered the southern part of the country. The Lomme-Reiseroute (Pocket Travel Route Guide), published anonymously in 1840, describes the travel routes from Oslo to Trondheim via Gudbrandsdalen and Østerdalen. Here, the reader learns that the landlord at Kongsvoll coaching inn has two ‘comely daughters’; the second edition includes routes to the western and southern parts of the country.
Ivar Refsdal’s world map from the Atlas for skole og hjem (Atlas for School and Home) published in 1910 bears witness to the age of colonialism. Indonesia is ‘Sundaöerne (Ned.)’, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan are ‘For-Indien (Br.)’, Namibia is ‘Tysk S.V.A.’, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe are somewhat erroneously labelled ‘Rhodesia (Br.)’ and Finland is a part of Russia. Norway and Sweden are the same colour, but divided by a border.
Throughout the summers of 1842 and 1843, historian and cartographer Peter Andreas Munch hikes through the mountains of southern Norway. He’s on a study tour in a mostly uncharted area to find the places and roads he’s read about in the Sagas and other works from the Middle Ages. For a handwritten book about his journey through the mountains, he draws a Kart over Fjældstrakten mellem Hardanger, Voss, Hallingdal, Numedal, Thelemarken og Ryfylke (Map of the Mountains Between Hardanger, Voss, Hallingdal, Numedal, Telemark and Ryfylke)–the first to properly depict the mountains. In his introduction, he criticises Pontoppidan’s map from 1785–‘the best and most complete to have existed of Norway until now’–for only having covered ‘the more accessible and inhabited areas […] The mountains he has not added nor specified, but rather only hinted at,’ and one area even seems to be ‘imaginary’. In a letter to a friend, Munch described how useful it had been for him to draw the map. ‘Only upon undertaking my map works has it become clear to me how important, yes, how immensely important, the study of topography is for our history.’
Much followed his first map with a Kart over det sydlige Norge (Map of Southern Norway) in 1847, and a Kart over det nordlige Norge (Map of Northern Norway) in 1852. The map of southern Norway features almost 40,000 place names. Since the country had for many years been mapped by Danes and Norwegians writing Danish, most previous maps of Norway were full of place names such as Walöer for Hvaler, Quievogh for Kvivaag, Steinbergdalen for Stemberdalen and so on. An important part
of Munch’s project was therefore to enter as many Norwegianised name forms as possible on the map. His map of southern Norway became so popular that it had to be reprinted four times and, in the English book Norway and Its Scenery by Thomas Forester published in 1853, was presented as indispensable for anyone planning to visit the country.
Den Norske Turistforening (the Norwegian Trekking Association) was founded in 1868, and became an enthusiastic proponent of the improved mapping of areas popular with tourists. The association also had members who drew their own maps and published them in the association’s yearbooks, including a Kart over Haukelid-Fjeld (Map of Haukelifjell) from 1868, a Kart over Galdhøpiggen (Map of Galdhøpiggen) from 1873, a Kart over Jotunfjeldene med omgivelser (Map of the Jotunfjell Mountains and the Surrounding Areas) created through a collaboration with the Kontoret for private opmaalinger og kartarbeider (Office for Private Surveys and Map-makers), and a Kart over Jostedalsbræen (Map of the Jostedal Glacier) from 1890. The association also issued a standing request to its members: ‘Since it is of great importance that the Geographical Survey of Norway obtain all serviceable information for the revision of older maps, any tourists who during their travels encounter inaccuracies in the published maps are encouraged to report the necessary details to the survey, either directly or through the association’s secretary.’
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