COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: There is also a world-famous stone bridge to be seen in Regensburg, which was built of huge dressed stones and which links the city with the suburb [...]. It is said that the bridge and Regensburg cathedral were made simultaneously by two architects of different abilities who strove to outdo each other [...]. Regensburg has very well-built private and public buildings and churches; this can be seen particularly clearly in the case of the great cathedral."

This engraving emphasizes the political and economic significance of the Free Imperial City of Regensburg. The city is viewed from the north, from a hilltop, across a vast stretch of countryside in the foreground, the suburb of Stadt am Hof and the two Islands of Upper and Lower Wörth in the Danube. The cathedral (H) rises above the sea of houses and the city's other churches. The draughtsman has included himself in the right-hand foreground and has signed and dated his work. Regensburg retains much of its medieval character even today, and it's Old Town's narrow, crooked streets still evoke a 16th-century atmosphere. The city's political importance increased in 1663 when Regensburg was chosen as the permanent location of the imperial diet, which had already convened in the town on several occasions in the 15th century. (Taschen)

Braun G. & Hogenberg F. and the Civitates Orbis Terrarum.

The Civitates Orbis Terrarum, or the "Braun & Hogenberg", is a six-volume town atlas and the greatest book of town views and plans ever published: 363 engravings, sometimes beautifully coloured. It was one of the best-selling works in the last quarter of the 16th century. Georg Braun wrote the text accompanying the plans and views on the verso. Many of the plates were engraved after the original drawings of Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600), a professional artist. The first volume was published in Latin in 1572 and the sixth in 1617. Frans Hogenberg created the tables for volumes I through IV, and Simon van den Neuwel made those for volumes V and VI. Other contributors were cartographers Daniel Freese and Heinrich Rantzau. Works by Jacob van Deventer, Sebastian Münster, and Johannes Stumpf were also used. Translations appeared in German and French.

Following the original publication of Volume 1 of the Civitates in 1572, seven further editions of 1575, 1577, 1582, 1588, 1593, 1599 and 1612 can be identified. Vol.2, first issued in 1575, was followed by further editions in 1597 and 1612. The next volumes appeared in 1581, 1588, 1593, 1599 and 1606. The German translation of the first volume appeared from 1574 on, and the French edition from 1575 on.

Several printers were involved: Theodor Graminaeus, Heinrich von Aich, Gottfried von Kempen, Johannis Sinniger, Bertram Buchholtz and Peter von Brachel, who all worked in Cologne.

Georg Braun (1541-1622)

Georg Braun was born in Cologne in 1541. After his studies in Cologne, he entered the Jesuit Order as a novice. In 1561, he obtained his bachelor's degree and in 1562 his Magister Artium. Although he left the Jesuit Order, he studied theology, gaining a licentiate in theology.

Frans Hogenberg (1535-1590)

Frans Hogenberg was a Flemish and German painter, engraver, and mapmaker. He was born in Mechelen as the son of Nicolaas Hogenberg.

By the end of the 1560s, Frans Hogenberg was employed upon Abraham Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, published in 1570; he is named an engraver of numerous maps. In 1568, he was banned from Antwerp by the Duke of Alva and travelled to London, where he stayed a few years before emigrating to Cologne. He immediately embarked on his two most important works, the Civitates, published in 1572 and the Geschichtsblätter, which appeared in several series from 1569 until about 1587.

Thanks to large-scale projects like the Geschichtsblätter and the Civitates, Hogenberg's social circumstances improved with each passing year. He died as a wealthy man in Cologne in 1590.