About

The Digital Map Archive represents a unique collection of printed and manuscript geoscientific maps from around the world. Here you can find maps from various geological disciplines in different scales, including mining-themed maps of the Czech Republic from the 16th–20th centuries.

The archive maintains an extensive collection of more than 80,000 map documents covering the territory of the Czech Republic and other countries. The collection includes both printed maps, usually accompanied by explanatory notes and supplementary texts, and manuscript maps, which mostly relate to the Czech territory and are often accompanied by materials such as geological cross-sections, legends, or stratigraphic columns.

The collection also includes digital copies of unique historical geoscientific maps by prominent authors, including J. Jirasek, F. A. Reuss, A. E. Ress, C. Raumer, J. Jokély, F. Foetterle, J. E. Hibsch, and others. As part of international cooperation, historical maps of Europe with a focus on the Czech Republic from the period 1780–1918 have also been gathered.

A significant portion of the collection has already been digitized and is accessible online via the Digital Map Archive application. Printed originals can be studied in person at the central reading room of the Czech Geological Survey (ČGS) in Prague (Kostelní 26, Prague 7).

Digitized maps and supplements created by the Czech Geological Survey (ČGS) or its predecessors are available in the application in full resolution. Other documents can be viewed only as informational previews.

All digitized materials are intended exclusively for personal study purposes. Further distribution, sale, or publication without the consent of the ČGS is prohibited by law. When publishing information from the documents, a full citation of the work, including the archival signature, must be provided.

A separate part of the collection is the Mining Map Archive, which gathers originals and copies of historical maps, plans, and sketches with a mining theme. In addition to ČGS holdings, it also includes digitized materials from national and regional archives (e.g., Opava, Brno, Zámrsk, Plzeň, Prague, Třeboň), the Regional Museum in Jílové u Prahy, and corporate archives (Green Gas DPB, a.s., P-D Refractories a.s.). This collection is digitized and fully accessible online. Original mining maps can be studied in person at the Mining Map Archive in Kutná Hora (Dačického náměstí 11/7, Kutná Hora).

Information about the operation of the reading rooms and the current price list for Prague and Kutná Hora is available here .