Where have the streets and alleys of the now lost historic center gone? How has development developed in my neighborhood? What area did the Jewish cemetery in Bismarckstrasse cover? How was the market built and how has development changed? “The regional historical information system Lagis provides answers to these and other questions with a multi-level overview – and the whole thing now also for the Offenbach district,” informs mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke about an exciting innovation for all those who are interested in historical knowledge.
In cooperation with the Offenbach City Archives, the Hessian Institute of Regional History (formerly: Hessian State Office for Regional Historical Studies) in Marburg scanned cadastral and parcel maps of the Offenbach district from three periods and made them freely available online in early December as part of the ‘Urkadastre+’ project. The project team led by Professor Dr. Holger Gräf put together almost 900 individual large-format and large-scale plans so that a coherent map of the entire district emerged. This can be georeferenced in the three periods 1845 to 1849 (“original cadastre”), 1906 to 1911 (cadastre) and 1906 to 1927 (city map with house numbering) using a current aerial map, the current real estate cadastre, a historical aerial photo (1952/53) or create an updated city map. A time section of historic cadastral maps can be combined with a background map, which allows a direct comparison of the individual maps.
Urkataster+ with numerous interactive tools
There are also numerous other interactive tools that allow you to follow in detail the development of the urban topography of Offenbach, a city whose eventful history can also be read on maps: Offenbach was a village for a long time in the second half of the 19th and 20th centuries It grew rapidly in the 19th century, it suffered some war damage and was rapidly modernized with the construction of Berliner Strasse in its historic centre.
The aim of the project funded by the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art (HMWK) is to present all Hessian city districts with at least one historical tradition in the application. “The existing historical cadastral maps of the once independent communities of Bürgel, Bieber and Rumpenheim have already been scanned and will also be made available in Urkadastre+ in the future,” says Mayor Schwenke and clarifies that all districts that are now part of Offenbach are in view of the City History House.
First step in making archival material accessible
For the Offenbach City Archives, this is a first step towards making archival material accessible. “We are very grateful to the Hessian Institute for State History for updating digitized plats from different periods with this project as an important source for urban history research and for making them accessible to anyone at any time. The interactive features and tools provided in Urkataster+ allow for a visualization and analysis of map information in a way that would not be possible in the reading room,” says city archivist Lukas Svatek-Storch. Urkadastre+ can also be very useful for administrative tasks, for example in the fields of construction and monument protection or environmental and urban planning. “Urkataster+ is a big project, there is a lot to discover. The time between the years could offer one or the other a chance to see it,” Mayor Schwenke concludes.
Maps of Offenbach can be found in the regional historical information system LAGIS (here select Urkataster+ and Offenbach).
Website LAUGH
link to Maps of Offenbach in LAGIS
(Text: PM House of City History Offenbach am Main)
