Eduard Imhof zum Gedenken

Summary

This commemorative article reviews the life, teaching, scholarship, and professional influence of Swiss cartographer Eduard Imhof (1895–1986), emphasizing his foundational role in modern cartography. Drawing on major stages of his career, publications, maps, atlases, and institutional service, it traces his forty-six years of teaching at ETH Zurich, where he established and directed what became the world’s first academic institute devoted to cartography. Imhof gradually shifted his focus from surveying, topography, and plan drawing to systematic instruction in cartographic graphics. He edited numerous school maps and more than thirty editions of the Swiss secondary-school atlas, developed international university courses, and consolidated his teaching in the landmark books Cartographic Relief Presentation and Thematic Cartography. His most ambitious undertaking was the Atlas of Switzerland, comprising over 400 maps with explanatory commentaries. The article highlights Imhof’s technical and artistic advances in shaded-relief representation, aerial-perspective hypsometric coloring, map generalization, the coordination of overlaid elements, and the structural classification of thematic maps. It also underscores his decisive contribution to Switzerland’s national map program, including advocacy for nationwide 1:25,000 coverage and a complete series of map scales. As a co-founder and former president of the International Cartographic Association, Imhof achieved lasting international recognition. The article concludes that his integration of scientific rigor, graphic discipline, artistic judgment, and practical experience remains relevant: contemporary cartography should not allow new technologies to obscure the enduring principles of clear, coherent, and aesthetically accomplished map design.