This map was one of 5 period-style maps commissioned for a family history photo book detailing a grandfather’s trip to Germany in 1897-1898. The grandather’s cross-Atlantic journey, as well as 3 side-trips taken in Germany were all fastidiously documented in his journal, which formed the basis for the project.

This map documents a trip the grandfather took to Dresden and the region of Saxon Switzerland. He spent a night and day or so in Dresden sightseeing. Then took a riverboat along the Elbe down to a town very close to the modern day border of what is now Czechia. I wanted the river to feature prominently, as well as show off some of the castles he mentions in the journal. Since he spent a good day or so in Dresden as well, I wanted that inset to be large enough to show all the sites he went to. For the region’s official boundary, I contacted the GIS department at the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district office and they were kind enough to provide the file I needed. The terrain was rendered in Eduard, stylized in Photoshop and then all map elements were finalized in Illustrator.

This map measures 15”w x 10”h printed and was designed to fold out from the book, with a quote from the grandfather’s journal on the “cover” of the fold-out page.