Perthes, Haack, and Heidi

The Perthes family wrote world-famous publishing history in Gotha. Justus Perthes founded a map publishing house here, which made the residential city the center of geography in the 19th century. During the GDR era, Perthes became VEB Hermann Haack, whose World Atlas could be found in almost every household at the time. By then, the publishing house founded by Justus Perthes’ nephew, Friedrich Andreas, had already ceased to exist. Yet its most famous product is still known throughout the world today: the Heidi books by Johanna Spyri, now part of Switzerland’s national heritage. The first books were published in Gotha, and it was from here that they began their triumphant journey around the globe.

Today, the Perthes map collection is one of the largest and most beautiful map collections in Europe, comprising 185,000 maps, 120,000 books, 1,650 copper plates, journals, and atlases. Spanning a total of 800 meters, the Perthes Forum in Gotha houses the history of the world’s discovery: maps that tell of the colonization of entire continents, but also of climate change. This unique archive holds the world’s knowledge and remains a vibrant center of research and scholarship today.

The film sets out to uncover why Gotha was once the geographical center of the world. To do so, we dive into the collection’s archives, leafing through old maps and precious atlases. We hear from former cartographers of VEB Hermann Haack about the heyday of map production in Gotha, which stood little chance of survival after reunification. Yet maps are still made in Gotha today, by two former employees of the VEB, who tell us about the challenges of mapmaking now and why maps from Gotha remain something special. We explore why Gotha ennobles, and why the most famous Swiss woman of all happened to be born in Gotha.

We follow African researchers who study the history of the continent’s colonization through historical maps.

The film tells the story of the Perthes publishing houses from a contemporary perspective, focusing on their significance for the present day. Together with researchers, conservators, curators, and archivists, as well as former and current mapmakers, we discover the world of Justus Perthes and let ourselves be inspired by it.