Freiburger historische Bestände - digital

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In 1510 the iron meridian was displaced by one of
brass, the work (as suggested by Murr, p. 19) of Johann
Werner, the astronomer, for which £4 10s. was paid.
The wooden stand was superseded about the same time
by an elegant tripod of iron.

The important duty of transferring the map to the
surface of the globe and illuminating it was entrusted to
Glockenthon.1 This artist spent fifteen weeks over this
work, for which he was paid £7.2 In addition to this his
wife was awarded 10s., and both were supplied with
dinners at an additional expense of at most 10s., though
wine and beer were included.

All in all, and including Kalperger's claim, this fine
work of art cost the city no more than £13 17s.

For over a hundred years the globe stood in one of
the upper reception rooms of the town hall, but in the
beginning of the sixteenth century it was claimed by and
surrendered to Baron Behaim.3 This was fortunate, for had
it remained, uncared for, in the town hall it might have
shared the fate of so many other " monuments" of
geographical interest, the loss of which the living generation
has been fated to deplore. In November 1907 the globe
was removed from Baron W. Behaim's family mansion
in the Egydienplatz to the Germanic Museum.

Repairs of the Globe.

The globe, in its pristine condition, with its bright
colours and numerous miniatures, must have delighted
the eyes of a beholder. In the course of time, however,
the once brilliant colours darkened or faded, parts of the
surface were rubbed off, many of the names became
illegible or disappeared altogether. The mechanician
Karl Bauer, who, aided by his son Johann Bernhard,
repaired the globe in 1823, declared to Ghillany, that it
had become very friable (miirbe), and that he found it
difficult to keep it from falling into pieces. In his opinion
it could not last much longer.4 Yet the globe has
survived, and its condition seems in no manner worse than
it was when it was under treatment by the Bauers.
Indeed, on examining the globe, a beholder may feel
surprise at the brightness of much of the lettering. This,
however, is due to the action of the " renovators," who
were let loose upon the globe in 1823, and again in 1847 ;
who were permitted to work their will without the
guidance of a competent geographer, and, as is the custom
of the tribe, have done irreparable mischief. As a
result numerous place-names have been corrupted past

1 No doubt George Glockendon, sen., a well-known illuminator, who is
the author of a road map (' Das ist der Romweg') and, jointly with
Erhard Etzlaub, a well-known mathematician and maker of sundials, of a
map of the environs of Nuremberg. He died in 1514.

2 Or at the rate of about 1*. 6d. a day. The " writers" employed at
Venice, in 1457-8, in copying Fra Mauro's map for the King of Portugal
were paid 120-140 soldi or U. to 1«. 2d. (Zurla, p. 84).

3 See J. Milliner's ' Annalen.'
* Ghillany, p. 73.

recognition, and Dr. Scheppig is quite right when he
maintains that if we desire to recover the original
nomenclature of the globe we must deal with it as a
palimpsest. Such a process, however, might lead to the
destruction of the globe, whilst the result possibly to be
achieved would hardly justify running such a risk.

A General Description.

The globe has a circumference of 1,595 mm., and
consequently a diameter of 507 mm., or 20 inches. Only
two great circles are laid down upon it, viz., the Equator,
divided into 360 degrees, and the Ecliptic studded with
the signs of the Zodiac. The Tropics, the Arctic and the
Antarctic circles, are likewise shown. The only meridian,
is drawn from Pole to Pole 80° to the west of Lisbon.
The sea is coloured a dark blue, the land a bright brown
or buff with patches of green and silver, representing
forests and regions supposed to be buried beneath
perennial ice and snow. Perhaps the most attractive
feature of the globe consists of 111 miniatures, for which
we are indebted to Glockenthon's clever pencil. The
vacant space within the Antarctic circle is occupied by a
fine design of the Nuremberg eagle with the virgin's head,
associated with which are the arms of the three chief
captains by whose authority the globe was made, namely,
Paul Volckamer, Gabriel Niitzel and Nikolaus Groland,
of Behaim and Holzschuher. There are in addition 48
flags (including 10 of Portugal) and 15 coats of arms, all
of them showing the heraldic colours. The miniatures
illustrate a great variety of subjects. Forty-eight among
them show us kings seated within tents or upon thrones ;
full-length portraits are given of four Saints (St. Peter, St.
Paul, St. Matthew and St. Iago), of missionaries instructing
natives and of travellers. Eleven vessels float upon the sea,
which is peopled by fishes, seals, sea-lions, sea-cows, seahorses
, sea-serpents, mermen and a mermaid. The land
animals include elephants, leopards, bears, camels,
ostriches, parrots, and serpents. Among the animals
represented we miss flying fish and whales, which Behaim
must have observed even if he got no further than the
Gulf of Guinea. Even more curious is Behaim's faulty
representation of the Portuguese arms. Such a mistake
may be forgiven to Italians like Bartholomeu di Pareto
(1455) or Nicolas de Canerio (1502), but Behaim had
resided for years in Portugal and had repeatedly sailed in
Portuguese ships.5 The only fabulous beings which are
represented among the miniatures are a merman and a
mermaid near the Cape Verde Islands, and two Sciapodes
in central South Africa, but syrens, satyrs and men with
dogs' heads are referred to in some of the legends. Nor
do we meet with the " Iudei clausi," or with a " garden of
Eden," still believed in by Columbus. This is a
commendable forbearance in an age which still rejoiced in
" mirabilia."

5 Compare the coat of arms p. 21, with that of the globe.

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