The origins of the geological mapping of Šumava by Ferdinand von Hochstetter in 1853

Commissioned by the Imperial Geological Office (Geologische Reichsanstalt) in Vienna, in May 1853 Ferdinand von Hochstetter was one of the auxiliary geologists to conduct the first systematic geological mapping of Šumava, in Dolní Vltavice (formerly Unter-Wuldau or Unter-Muldau, a village now mostly submerged by the Lipno reservoir). Hochstetter’s geological maps of Šumava created with other colleagues at a scale of 1:144 000 and later modified and redrawn to a scale of 1:75 000 were defining until the 1960s.

The first research expedition by the German-born Austrian geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter (1829–1884) to Šumava took place in 1853. He went on this expedition as part of a large project by the Imperial Geological Institute intended to map out Bohemia (as part of the mapping of the entire Austro-Hungarian monarchy). He was not initially very enthusiastic about the project, published under the name Special-Karte des Königreiches Böhmen (Special Map of the Kingdom of Bohemia). At that time Šumava was “terra incognita” as far as science was concerned, essentially an unexplored and harsh region ituated in a remote corner of the monarchy. However, under the guidance of Johann Baptist Čžjžek (1806–1855), Hochstetter keenly got down to work and soon came to have a great affection for Šumava, which was reflected not only in his precise “geognostic” work (geognostics was the original term for geology), but also in his general portrayal of life in the near and more remote parts of Šumava. Besides his monthly reports on how his work was progressing and his detailed documentation of the places he mapped, which Hochstetter sent to the Imperial Geological Institute, he also wrote professional studies published in Jahrbuch der Kaiserlich-Königlichen geologischen Reichsanstalt (Yearbook of the Imperial-Royal Geological Institute), as well as educational and popularising scientific articles describing not only Šumava’s geological secrets, but the whole of the Šumava region. The only source materials available to Hochstetter were the unpublished maps of Max Xaver Maximilian Zippe and his topographic notes. Hochstetter also continued his work on mapping Šumava proceeding from the southeast (Dolní Vltavice) along the Bohemian-Bavarian border towards the northwest in 1854. After Cžjžek’s death in 1855 Hochstetter became the head geologist and continued to map the north of Šumava (part of which was also what is now the Upper Palatine Forest) in the region where Šumava, Smrčina, Karlovarská vrchovina and the Ore Mountains meet. Besides Hochstetter, others involved in the mapping of southern Bohemia as assistant geologists were Ferdinand von Lidl, Johannes Jokély and Victor von Zepharovich. The hand-drawn geological maps of Bohemia at a scale of 1:144 000 were completed in 1863. The printed version of the Geological Survey Map of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (12 sheets) at a scale of 1:575 000 was published in 1867. 

Hauer, F.: Zur Erinnerung an Ferdinand v. Hochstetter. Jahrbuch der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Geologischen Reichssanstalt 4/1884, sv. 34, s. 601–608. 

Hochstetter, F.: Briefe aus dem Böhmerwald. Ottensheim 2017. 

Kočárek, E.: Geologie a petrologie Šumavy. In: Dudák, V. (ed.) a kol.: Šumava, příroda, historie, život. Praha 2003, s. 123–130. 

Posmourny, K; Bachl-Hofmann, Ch.: Böhmen, Mähren und Österreichisch Schlesien. In: Geologische Bundesanstalt (Hrsg): Die Geologische Bundesanstalt in Wien. 150 Jahre Geologie im Dienste Österreichs (1849–1999). Wien 1999, s. 119–124.