Switserland, Avenches – Mercator/Hondius, 1607

MAP OF SWITZERLAND, THE AREA AROUND BERN AND FRIBOURG

“Das Wiflispurger Gou” [now called Avenches, in the canton of Vaud], copper engraving made by Gerard Mercator in 1595 and published by Jodocus Hondius as part of the “Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et fabricati figura” in 1607. With original hand colouring. Verso: Latin text. Size: (plate mark): 34 x 45 cm.

On the reverse it states: “This map depicts almost the entire territory of Bern, as well as that of Fribourg.” It is described in detail:

Bern is praised as a city that, though not particularly ancient, need yield to no other city in situation, institutions, laws, power, and civic civilisation.

According to legend, Duke Berchtold of Zähringen wished to build a new city near his castle Nydegg on a wooded promontory. He decreed that the city would be named after the first animal caught during the hunt: a bear, German “Bär”. This is said to be how Bern received its name. For this reason, the city council continuously kept several live bears in a specially constructed bear pit, the Bärengraben, as a visible symbol of the city.

Bern lies on the river Aare, which encircles the city almost like an island and serves as a natural moat. Only on the western side is there a land connection. The surrounding area is fertile, though not particularly suited to viticulture; the people of Bern obtain good wine from nearby regions.

Lausanne is an episcopal city. According to the early modern tradition followed by the text, the bishop’s seat was transferred from the region of Aventicum/Avenches to Lausanne around 590. It is a remarkably situated city, spread across two facing hills and an intervening valley. After the death of Duke Charles the Bold, Lausanne eventually came, together with the surrounding region, under Bernese rule, although the citizens were to retain their privileges and rights.

The text then turns to Fribourg/Freiburg on the Sarine/Saane. The author places the city within the Zähringen founding tradition and mentions it alongside Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany): two cities with related names, both meaning ‘free strongholds’. Swiss Fribourg has a remarkable situation: it lies partly on a hill and partly in a valley. The river Sarine/Saane flows through the lower parts of the city. The town hall stands on a steep rock where the castle once stood; from that castle the city gradually grew both upward and downward over time. The facing hills carry the city walls; on the eastern hill, however, there are almost no houses, only defensive works. Wherever one walks through the city, one must constantly climb or descend. The surrounding land produces everything that is needed, except wine, which must be imported.

Both Bern and Fribourg had a republican form of government with a ‘Schultheiss’ as chief magistrate and a Great and a Small Council. Important matters of state are submitted to the Great Council; day-to-day administration and municipal affairs rest primarily with the Small Council. (After the end of the Ancien Régime in 1798, this system of government changed.)

Price: Euro 295,-