Geografie 1962, 67, 151-159
The First Hypsometric Map of the Tatras and Their Foreland
On a comparatively small area the mass of the High Tatras rises abruptly above its neighbourhood reaching the height of over 2600 m a. s. l. No wonder that it has been attracting the attention of cartographers eversince long ago. Already ancient maps of Hungary and Spiš County showed the Tatra mass. The Swedish botanist J. Wahlenberg, compiled a map of the Tatras on which he distinguished individual mountain zones of phytogeographical formations with different colour shades. The oldest hypsometric map of the Tatras is the map made by W. Warhanek, issued in Vienna 1857. The author, a Viennese professor of geography, based his work upon contemporary literature without having ever seen the area in question. For the compilation of the map he made use of the scheme by Hauslab, i. e. of the Viennese cartographical school. In determinig the colour shades of the individual zones, he proceeded according to the paralele "the higher, the darker in shade", leaving only a few exceptions. He designed the isohypses by interpolation of some 700-800 elevation points which he had at his disposal. The present paper discusses in much detail this first coloured hypsometric map of the Tatras. If we compare, however, the latest hypsometric map of approximately the same scale (1 : 900 000), we have but to admit that the old map shows a considerable imperfection in representing the area of the Tatras. The author of the map, however, was the first to state the highest peak in the Tatra Mountains, applying the method of panoramatic section. Due to the fact that he had not applied the right method in compilation (relying only upon literary works at hand), the map has remained only a notable historical-geographical document of its time. A few years later, K. Kořistka belonging to the same Viennese school, compiled a very good hypsometric map of the Tatra Mountains.
