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Franz Ludwig Güssefeld

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Franz Ludwig Güssefeld
Portrait of Güssefeld published in 1808
Born(1744-12-06)6 December 1744
Died17 June 1807(1807-06-17) (aged 62)
NationalityGerman
Occupation(s)surveyor, cartographer, engineer, forester
Known forMaps published by Homann Heirs
SpouseJohanna Christiana Brunquel (1744–1807)

Franz Ludwig Güssefeld (6 December 1744 – 17 June 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

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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 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]

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References

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