What’s What? Maps, Atlases and Gazetteers
Maps
You’ll find a variety of modern and historical maps online. Here are a few of my favorite sites for Eastern Europe:
- David Rumsey Map Collection
- Foundation for East European Family History Studies
- Google Earth
- Library of Congress
- Perry-Casteñeda Map Collection
- Maplandia
- Mapy sites for the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia
Of course, don’t overlook printed and microfilmed maps. Check map collections at major public libraries, college and university libraries, and FamilySearch’s Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
Atlases
Most maps from Eastern Europe lack indexes to towns, but you’ll typically find this helpful feature in atlases. Historical atlases describe the development of countries. They show jurisdictional boundaries, migration routes, landowners, settlement patterns, military campaigns and other historical information. While Great-grandpa’s hamlet might not appear on a modern map, a historical atlas gives an accurate picture of the region at the time it was published. For those with Eastern European ancestry, I recommend The Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of Eastern Europe by Dennis P. Hupchick and Harold E. Cox (Palgrave Macmillan). Also bookmark these online atlases:
- Atlas of Austria-Hungary
- Atlas of Czechoslovakia
- Atlas des Deutschen Reichs
- Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century
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