1834 Bermann / Hehl Map and Guide to Vienna

This is a rare 1834 J. Bermann map of Vienna (Wein) composed to illustrate Johann Hehl’s accompanying city guide. It illustrates Vienna at the height of the Biedermeier Period (1815 - 1848) when a growing educated middle class was redefining social norms within the urban landscape.

A Closer Look

The map predates the 1866 renovations that led to the construction of the Ringstrasse and other projects and so reveals an essentially medieval version of Vienna, bounded by its historic city walls. Color coding in the lower margin breaks out various quarters, as well as civic and ecclesiastical buildings. Some of the surrounding suburbs are illustrated, with notations in the border areas providing guidance. Each building is numbered according to Vienna’s archaic pre-1866 cadastral system.

Archaic Cadastral System

The map reveals Vienna’s historic house numbering system. Before 1866, the city used a house numbering system that was not based on streets but rather on a sequential numbering scheme within each district or quarter of the city. Building numbers were assigned in the order in which they were registered rather than being systematically organized along streets. Curiously, the publisher’s own building, 618, while illustrated, is not identified by number.

Publication History and Census

This map was engraved in Vienna by M. Dorneck and published by Jeremiah Bermann in 1834. It was issued to accompany Johann Hehl’s guide to Vienna, Wegweiser in der Residenz-Stadt Wien, which is included here. Rare. We note a single other example, located at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek.