De Wit, Frederick (1629-1706). "Exactissima Tabula qua tam Danubi Fluvii Pars Media, ab Urbe Lentlae ad Bydenam Urbem..." [Danube, Slovakia, Austria]. Amsterdam, c. 1710.

Frederik de Wit (1629–1706)
Exactissima Tabula qua Tam Danubii Fluviī Pars Media ab Urbe Linz ad Budam Urbem
Amsterdam, c. 1710
Engraved map with original hand color
Sheet size: 21 x 25 inches

This vibrant and meticulously detailed map by the celebrated Dutch cartographer Frederik de Wit focuses on the central course of the Danube River, one of Europe’s most important and historically charged waterways. Published circa 1710 in Amsterdam, the map traces the river’s flow from Linz in present-day Austria through Vienna, Pressburg (Bratislava), and Buda (now part of Budapest), highlighting the key political and military axis of the Habsburg Empire.

The map covers a swath of Central and Southeastern Europe, including Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Transylvania, and parts of northern Italy and Slovenia. Rendered with clarity and elegance, it was designed during a time when this region lay at the crossroads of empires: the Habsburg Monarchy, the Ottoman Empire, and the Venetian Republic. The Danube itself served as a vital corridor of trade, communication, and conflict, particularly as the Habsburgs sought to consolidate their power in the wake of the Great Turkish War (1683–1699).

The careful delineation of rivers, fortresses, and towns reveals the map’s strategic value. Mountain ranges and forests are drawn pictorially, with political boundaries distinguished in vivid hand color. The decorative cartouche in the lower left corner—featuring classical allegorical figures—reinforces the grandeur and authority of de Wit’s mapmaking during the golden age of Dutch cartography.

As both a scientific instrument and a geopolitical statement, this map is a superb artifact of early 18th-century Europe. It offers not only an invaluable geographic snapshot but also insight into the imperial rivalries and shifting borders that defined the Danubian world.