Hi Mardon and listers, the Cassini maps were the first maps to cover entirely the (then) kingdom of France, between 1756 and 1789 (Source: French Wikipedia). It is a remarkable work. However, the precise localization of villages and towns is not always accurate. Compare for ex. the area of Ferrette with a modern map (e.g. "Google maps", then search for Ferrette): particularly look at the relative positions of Ferrette (Pfirt), Bouxwiller (Buschwil) and Oltingue (Oltingen) (Please note that the orientation is not the same: on Cassini's map, the north is on your right). One has to remember that the maps were drawn by French-speaking people, who transcribed phonetically the local names of places. Also, as you have noticed, Sondersdorf is missing, whereas Fusswiller cannot been found on modern maps (at least I couldn't find it). Sondersdorf is mentionned as Sundroltestorff in 1146 and Sundersdorf in 1284. As to Raedersdorf, there are two possibilities: either "Roterstorff" south to '"Pfirt", or "Roterstorff" south to "Oltingen". There is a Rodersdorf (in today Switzerland) just across the border, near Biederthal (in today France) which must be "Beitenthal" on Cassini's map. I guess Raedersdorf corresponds to the first possibility. To conclude, Cassini's map is fascinating indeed, but it should not be used to locate a place precisely, unless it is compared to a modern map. Further remarks: Pfirt is indeed Ferrette, as Mardon wrote in another post. SVN T GOW is Sundgau. For further questions about specific places, just drop me a line. I'll check in the "Dictionnaire du Haut-Rhin". Etienne Le 27 nov. 08 à 00:21, Mardon a écrit : > I found a fantastic, hi-resolution, on-line map of Alsatia Superior > c1580 at > this URL: > http://cartocassini.free.fr/region/alsace/alsace-mercator1 > > My ERBLAND ancestors come from the village of Sondersdorf, which is > 2 km > southeast of Ferrette (where the ruins of the Château de Ferrette are > located) and 2.5 km northwest of Raedersdorf. > > The map shows "Roderstorf" where "Raedersdorf" is located today and > it shows > the symbol for a castle at the location of the Château de Ferrette > but the > name “Ferrette" is not there. The name "Pfirt" seems to be the > label for > the castle and the place names of "Buschwil" and "Fußwiller" are in > the area > where Sondersdorf is located now. I have birth records in Latin for > my > family that go back to the early 1600’s and these all list > Sondersdorf as > the village name in that area. > > I’d like to know how the names on the map got changed between 1580 > and the > 1600’s. I’d also like to know more about the nature of Alsatia > Superior. > It stretched much further to the east than Alsace and Haut-Rhin goes > today. > > Other things on the map that I’d like to know more about are the area > labeled “Die Hartt” and the label “SVN T GOW” for the area that was > later > known as the Suntgaw, a.k.a. the "Suntgau" and the "Sundgau" > > All feedback is welcome and appreciated. > > Mardon