Published on 1 January 2026

Historical maps

The Library Am Guisanplatz BiG owns a collection of historical maps dating back to the 17th century. The collection includes national maps of Switzerland, printed regional maps and manuscript maps of Switzerland and neighbouring countries.

The Library Am Guisanplatz has an extensive collection of around a thousand atlases and 30,000 maps, with a geographical focus on Swiss territory and neighbouring countries. The collection concentrates on topographical maps, especially those relating to military history, and includes items dating back to the 17th century. Maps newly acquired by the BiG are primarily national maps of Switzerland.

Of particular note are the extensive collections relating to the Franco-Prussian War, the First World War and the Second World War. A special highlight is the Schauenburg collection, which contains 18th century maps. The originals are held in the State Archive of the Canton of Bern, while a facsimile version of the collection is available at the BiG.

Wurstemberger/Finsler collection

The private Wurstemberger/Finsler collection contains some remarkable treasures from the time of Johann Ludwig Wurstemberger (1783–1862) and Hans Conrad Finsler (1765–1839), who successively held the office of Oberstquartiermeister (cf. quarter-master general) in the Swiss army. In this capacity they promoted the survey of the country in the early 19th century.

The descendants of von Wurstemberger continued adding to the private map collection into the 20th century.

The collection contains numerous unique hand-drawn maps, many unfortunately unsigned but most probably the work of Johann von Wurstemberger and Johann Conrad Finsler. The printed maps include some significant wall maps, such as the Scheuchzer map (1712), a map of the Bern area by Thomas Schöpf (1672) and a large wall map by Frederick de Wit (around 1660).

In 2011, the BiG acquired the Wurstemberger/Finsler map collection, consisting of 200 to 300 maps, and a large book collection.

You can search the BiG’s map collection via the research portal Alexandria; older holdings will be integrated gradually. Selected maps can also be downloaded in digitised format.

Further information

• Library collection