The Schauenburg collection contains 68 hand-drawn maps and plans from the 17th and 18th centuries. They show terrains, fortresses, ground plans and the Mittelland, which was under Bernese rule. In 1798, the maps were stolen from Bern by the Alsatian general Alexis Balthasar Henri Antoine von Schauenburg (1748-1831). They were later returned to the Swiss Confederation in 1881, and today are kept in the State Archives of Bern. The BiG's current exhibition presents the history of this unique collection, and shows a selection of these maps in their original size.

The maps and their authors

Many of the maps were authored by military engineers. The exhibition contains works by the following cartographers: Valentin Friderich (died around 1640), Hans Conrad Gyger (1599-1674), Samuel Bodmer (1652-1724), Johann Adam Riediger (1680-1756) and Johann Anton Herbort (1702-1757).