Maps
Maps
Where did your ancestor live?
Records kept at Staatsarchive (state archives) give descriptions of farm buildings and fields. Books to look for at state archives include:
Uebergabe Vertrag (transfer of property from the father to the son, for example)
Heiratskontrakt (marriage contracts)
Kataster books (such as Grundsteuer Kataster - tax books) will list house numbers and owner's names.
Contact the Staatsarchiv to find out if they have books for the town you are interested in since books have changed locations over the years. Here is a list of Bavarian Staatsarchive and contact info: https://www.gda.bayern.de/archive/ See my webpage Bavarian archives which mentions that some state archive books may be found at FamilySearch. Here are 3 of the state archives, as an example:
Amberg: https://www.gda.bayern.de/amberg/
Landshut: https://www.gda.bayern.de/landshut/
Munich: https://www.gda.bayern.de/muenchen/
If your ancestor did not own property, they will not be listed in the Kataster books. You can try to find where they lived by looking for church book records of baptisms, marriages, and births. If you can't find your ancestor's house number in the above places, try researching other family members such as siblings.
When you know the house number, look at the historic map at BayernAtlas (directions below). Be aware that house numbers on the old maps may not be the same house number today. Therefore, you should locate the old house number on the historic map, then switch to the "Webkarte" map to compare the old map to the new map.
BayernAtlas - Bavarian maps - current and historic
BayernAtlas has an option to display historical maps with house numbers.
The website uses layers of historical old maps from various years and blends them together, so the map spans the years 1808 to 1864. When zoomed out, the map is dated "around 1860." The date appears on the bottom right corner of the webpage when viewing the map.
Click "Karten" which goes here: https://geoportal.bayern.de/bayernatlas
At the bottom RIGHT corner, click the tiny box that says "Hintergrund" and this will expand a menu of map choices
Click "Historische Karte" (other options are: Webkarte S/W; Topographische Karte; Luftbild + Beschriftung; Webkarte)
OR, Go directly to the historical map via THIS LINK
Type a village name into the "Ort, Adressen, Themen, Koordinaten" search box
A drop-down menu of results will appear
Click the name of a village
To see house numbers, scroll the mouse wheel up or use the zoom tool on the right side. The dark or gray squares are houses, and the yellow squares are farm buildings. Houses and barns were normally attached to each other. Fields belonging to the house numbers will have the same numbers listed in the areas marked out as fields.
To find out what all the markings mean on the old maps, see this legend: Legend for 1808 and 1830 maps
For more recent maps, see Legend for the Web map
To find historic maps of Bohemia / Czech Republic, see Grafenried research
BayernAtlas - How to compare an old map with a new map
Find a town using the search bar or navigate to it by dragging and zooming on the map.
In the menu on the left, click "Thema wechseln"
Click "Zeitreise" (time travel)
Click "Erweiterte Werkzeuge"
Click the words "Vergleichen"
The map should now be split. Drag the double arrows to compare an old map with a new map. Zoom in and out using the mouse. Drag the map any which way you want.
At the top is a bar with years. Slide the bar to a different year and half the map will change to that year.
This video explains how to compare maps, but some of the menus have changed since 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxfX1NVkHMo For instance, "Werkzeuge" (tools) is now "Erweiterte Werkzeuge" (advanced tools).
Video that explains the "Werkzeuge" (tools) options at BayernAtlas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n039xG7dZM
Note:
"Werkzeuge" (tools) is now "Erweiterte Werkzeuge" (advanced tools)
Polygon and other line drawing tools are no longer under Digitalisieren but are under "Zeichnen & Messen auf der Karte"
"Punkt" (points) are now under "Symbol" then in the "Element" box, click the symbol icon to open another box that shows "Signaturen" with various shapes to choose from such as stars, squares, triangles, circles, and more.
To remove something you added, click the object and a window will open. Click the trash can icon then click "OK"
Video that shows how to import KML und GPX into BayernAtlas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icb32nFehjU
Maps at Bayerische Landesbibliothek
https://www.bavarikon.de/search/map?lang=de
Map of Waldmünchen county: https://www.bavarikon.de/object/bav:BSB-MAP-0000MAPPXI91W566?lang=de
Old site that will be discontinued: https://www.bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de/histkarten/suche
Historical maps of countries
https://mapire.eu/en/ Maps of countries
Poland and east of the Oder and Neisse rivers and provinces of East Prussia (Memel, Westprussia, Brandenburg, Posen, Pomerania, and Silesia) - http://www.kartenmeister.com/preview/databaseUwe.asp and http://www.kartenmeister.com/preview/map/default.asp
Wisconsin maps
Wisconsin map with 1937 aerial views - "Wisconsin Historic Aerial Imagery Finder" Zoom into the map to see Town/Range/Section numbers and letters. Click the red or white circles to see 1937 aerial maps. In the pop-up, click "Preview" (you can also download images).
Plain, Wisconsin: https://maps.sco.wisc.edu/WHAIFinder/#13/43.2782/-90.0288
Atlas of Historical County Boundaries for Wisconsin: https://digital.newberry.org/ahcb/pages/Wisconsin.html Includes an interactive map showing boundary changes of counties in Wisconsin. 3 ZIP files can be downloaded.
Wisconsin Maps (links galore!): https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Wisconsin_Maps
Franklin Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin, map that is not from 1857. Read the story here.
Search this website for villages in Germany. Includes historical maps and much more!
Waze map
This map shows townships but not boundaries. Google Maps does not show townships
It's a simple map and doesn't display houses.
The "live" view shows where roads are closed.
One can search for only two towns/cities at a time, whereas with Google Maps, you can search for several towns/cities.