Müller's map was created by German cartographer Johann Christoph Müller in 1712—1720 following a decision by Emperor Charles VI. He measured distances using a device that counted the revolutions of a carriage wheel, and the job took him six years. The result was a 1:132,000 scale map of Bohemia, extremely detailed for its time. The decoration was designed by Václav Vavřinec Reiner, the engravings were made by Johann Daniel Herz and Michael Kauffer. The map was printed in Augsburg and later transferred to Prague. Today it can be admired as an important evidence of the development of cartography and landscape in the early 18th century.

The map depicts not only the shape of cities and villages at that time, but also the location of rivers, ponds, forests and roads. As a realtor, we focus on the Vysočina region, I took a picture of a part of the map showing the surroundings of today's Havlíčkov Brod — and at home I began to look for what the towns and villages in our region were called at that time.

I was particularly interested in the historical names of towns and villages around today's Havlíčkov Brod. The town is marked on the map as “Teutsch Brod”, meaning German Brod — this name was commonly used from the beginning of the 14th century until 1945, when it was changed to Havlíčkův Brod.

Other interesting names appear on the map as well. For example, the present-day municipality of Vysoká is listed as “Hochtann”, the nearby Holy Cross as “Heiligenkreuz”, Perknov as “Prnkau” and be sure to try to find historical names of towns in the vicinity of Brod. The names reflect period designations. Rivers and ponds (typical of the vicinity of Brod), old paths or hills are also recorded on the map.

For anyone interested in the history of municipalities, genealogy, or urban planning developments, the Müller Map is a valuable resource. And for those of us who devote ourselves to reality today, it is a reminder that even behind every contemporary plot there is a story that began long before us. We will try to capture these stories on our site.

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