Illustrierte Karte der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika mit Darstellung der regionalen Bodenschätze, Produkte und landschaftlichen Besonderheiten
(Illustrated Map of the United States of America Showing the regional Natural Resources, Products and Features)
Illustrierte Karte der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika mit Darstellung der regionalen Bodenschätze, Produkte und landschaftlichen Besonderheiten
(Illustrated Map of the United States of America Showing the regional Natural Resources, Products and Features)
A German-language pictorial map of the U.S., promoting the nation's natural resources, historic sites, business and cultural activities, etc. The images are similar to those used by General Drafting Company on commercial U.S. maps (see, e.g., ID #1367, Humble Oil and Refining Company, “Trip Planning Map of the United States,” dated 1962). However, the text accompanying each of the pictures has been here translated into German (see, e.g., Montgomery, Alabama, "Hauptstadt der Konfoderation, 1861.”)
This map is one of a series whose precise origin, motive and dates are unknown. I am aware of editions of this map in English, French, Spanish, Danish, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic and Farsi as well as German; there are likely versions in other languages as well. The maps variously state their source as the United States Information Service; the Department of State; or the U.S. Office of War Information (whose functions were transferred to the USIS, State Department, and the OSS/CIA in 1945). It's likely that the government published these maps and distributed them around the world as part of the Cold War effort to counter the messages of the Soviet Union. This map, like all of the other foreign-language maps I’m aware of, is undated; it's likely that they were published over a substantial period of time between the end of World War II and the early 1960s.
