G. R. Crone · 1960
The reviewer calls Atlas Östliches Mitteleuropa the most elaborate of the surveyed atlases in design and production, while questioning its treatment of an area that the editors themselves acknowledge is neither a geographical nor a political unit. The opening physical and natural maps, printed in eleven colours, are praised as well designed, particularly the map of natural regions. The assessment is otherwise critical of the atlas’s German perspective: place-names follow forms acceptable to Germans, prewar German boundaries are retained, former eastern German territories and German settlements receive extensive attention, and other recent population movements are omitted. Sources are predominantly German, while a supplementary booklet supplies English and French translations of all map legends.
R. D. · 1960
This review assesses Oestliches Mitteleuropa, an atlas produced amid West German efforts to preserve public memory of former eastern territories placed under Soviet or Polish administration after 1945. Despite this political context, the volume is praised for its scholarly value, clear presentation, and rich illustrations. Covering historical transformations, shifting borders, human geography, climate, cities, and monuments—many damaged during the war—the atlas is judged an indispensable reference for understanding East-Central Europe’s turbulent development and postwar reconstruction.
