Civil Aviation Cartography in Austria 1908–1938

Abstract

This study attempts to offer the first ever analysis of Austrian aviation cartography from its origins in 1908 to 1938. The thematic focus is on Austria's contribution to the debate on the standardisation of aeronautical charts on an international scale, on the continuities and changes characterising the aeronautical charts produced in Austria, and on a comparison of these maps with similar ones from other countries. The paper aims to expound on the thesis that, while the theoretical basis for aeronautical charts had principally been in place internationally and in Austria during the 1910s, there had been almost no practical follow-up on this know-how in Austria between 1915 and 1922. After 1923 novel aeronautical charts were produced, but the Austrian output sometimes fell below international standards regarding both quantity and, in part, also quality. The international agreed rules were interpreted in keeping with Austria's own requirements. It appears, however, that this development was not limited to Austria, as the new rules took hold in other countries somewhat belatedly as well.