Manual Cartography

For about 30 years, Dr. Rolf Böhm, a cartographer based in Bad Schandau, has been creating unique, hand-drawn hiking maps of Saxon Switzerland, which are not only orientation aids but also works of art. In order to give the students of the international master program in Cartography an insight into this extinct handicraft, Dr. Böhm is a guest at the Institute of Cartography on six dates and teaches the basics of manual cartography. The first two dates were dedicated to lettering, topics of the following units are slope hatching as well as monochrome and colored shading. In addition to the appropriate techniques, students are introduced to tools and materials such as nibs, brushes, and ink, and have been introduced to highly concentrated coffee as the secret ingredient for monochrome shading.

© Eva Hauthal