Vandens kelias Kaunas – Karaliaučius XV-XVIII a. kartografijoje

Abstract

Tyrimu siekiama apžvelgti vandens kelio Kaunas – Karaliaučius funkcionavimo istorinį kontekstą bei pristatyti žinias apie jo tvarkymo projektus. Platesnis žvilgsnis į kelio egzistavimą, neapsiribojant vien kartografija, suteiks tyrimui įvairiapusiškumo ir padės atsekti vandens kelio, keturių upių trasomis jungiančio Kauną ir Karaliaučių, vaizdavimo ypatumus XV – XVII a. kartografijoje, keliant klausimą, ar vandens kelias buvo fiksuojamas tik kaip fizinis geografinis krašto erdvės komponentas, ar jo vaizdavimą papildė ir socialinės ekonominės geografijos požymiai. Kada pradėjo ryškėti pirmieji šio proceso pėdsakai, kokiu būdu tai pasireiškė ir kaip atskirti, kur tik paprasta fizinė geografija, o kur – vandens kelias kaip gamtinė – socialinė sistema. Tyrime išskirtinai svarbiausia yra vandens trasa, o ne pasirinkti jos atskaitos taškai. Tad Kauno miestas, bent jau kartografinėje plotmėje, lyg ir liks paraštėje

To start with, the waterway along the rivers the Nemunas, the Gilija, the Deimena and the Prieglius was very important for the trade process. The process of canalization which was carried out during the period of 14th-18th centuries made the waterway the most convenient route for navigation. The concept of waterway includes both the natural and the artificial objects. The main task of the present research is to find out the position of the waterway in the old maps on the one hand and to retrace the appearance of signs of social-economical geography in its structure on the other. The research used the maps of Europe, Prussia, the Great Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland. It is important to note that the map of Prussia (the first edition in 1576) made by Henneberger and the map of LDK by Mikalojus Kristupas Radvila-Našlaitėlis marked an important stage in the history of the old cartography. The maps of the late 15th and the early 16th centuries show the evidence of only one prototype of the Nemunas waterway oriented towards the Dancig bay (the maps of Münzer, Cusanus and Beneventanus). For example, Wapowski, Vopel, Grodecki, Magnus, Pograbka and others recorded the integral parts of the waterway paying most of the attention to the Nemunas delta what can be related to the delta regulation projects carried out in the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th centuries. The Nemunas delta is also enlarged and highlighted in the map of Radvila-Našlaitėlis. The reason of such emphasis could be the regulation projects of Gilija during the period of 1613-1616. A qualitative change in the representation of the object can be observed in the first map (and its later editions) of Henneberger and in the maps of his followers. The first sign of social-economical geography showing the bed of the Gilija was fixed in the map of Henneberger in 1635.[...]