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Friedrich Wilhelm Delkeskamp (17941872)
Panorama of the Rhine and the Adjacent
Country, from Cologne to Mayence 1835
Courtesy of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin—Preussischer
Kulturbesitz
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Panorama
of the Rhine and the Adjacent Country
1835
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Staatsbibliothek
zu Berlin—Preussischer Kulturbesitz
Berlin
Germany |
Rhine
panoramas offer a typically romantic view of the
river in the early nineteenth century. When the
Rhine came to be regarded not only as a trade
route, but also as a tourist destination, the
market increased for maps and views of the river's
course. Published with separate notes and marginal
images as a supplement to travel handbooks, the
strengths of the panoramas lay in their three-dimensional
representation, which assisted the reader in their
orientation. With steamship travel becoming more
popular, followed by train travel, the accordion-fold
style of the Rhine maps also offered a space-saving
information source about beauty spots along the
course of a journey.
The
example displayed here shows the central Rhine
Valley from Mainz to Köln (Cologne). Cities
and castles are included, as are prominent cliffs,
picturesque ruins and the Lorelei rock whirlpool
with its famous echo (which legend said was a
siren's song enticing sailors to shipwreck on
the rock). Above and below, the panorama is extended
by supplementary maps of the entire course of
the river. This English-language edition shows
the particular importance of this section of the
Rhine to British readers.
The
British were great travellers. In the eighteenth
century, no well-bred young man's education was
complete until he had undertaken the Grand Tour,
travelling through Europe with a tutor or guardian.
Many hardships of eighteenth-century travel were
eliminated in the nineteenth century with the
rise of steamships and railways. With the use
of panoramic maps and printed guidebooks, travelling
became easier and more informative.
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