15th International Cartographic Conference Bournemouth, 23 September - 1 October, 1991
Hungarian National Committee of the International Cartographic Association

Report on the activities of the Hungarian National Committee of ICA during the period of 1987-1991

During the period to be reported considerable social and political changes took place in Hungary. The one-party communist authoritarian system has been replaced by a multiparty democratic social order. These changes have also been reflected in Hungarian cartography.
The most important changes are the following:

The restricted use of national topographic series (1:10 000, 1:25 000, 1:100 000, 1:200 000) was discontinued, and the "secret" and "classified" labels were abandoned in 1989. Now anybody may freely buy or order from abroad the official topographic maps.

The hitherto secretive role and activities of the Army Cartographic Institute have become open. The Institute has taken the name of a 19th century cartographer, Ágoston Tóth, and has even appeared on the market with some non-military maps (Road Map of Hungary, Tourist Map of the Kőszeg Hills, and several relief maps). The name of the institute since 1989 is: Ágoston Tóth Cartographic Institute of the Hungarian Army.

The government has announced the privatization programme of Hungarian companies with the inclusion of foreign capital. Cartographia/Budapest is also planning its transformation into smaller limited liability companies and a joint stock company. So far one of its sections was transformed into a ltd. to produce town and city maps with the participation of a German firm.

The social organ of surveyors and cartographers, the Geodetic and Cartographic Society has, in line with its 5-year term of mandates, elected a new leadership, and has changed both its name and its statutes. The new name of the body:
Hungarian Society of Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing.
President and Secretary-General of the Society for the term 1990-1995 is Mr. György Domokos, retired director of Cartographia (Budapest), and Dr. Gábor Mélykúti (assistant lecturer of the Institute of Geodesy of the Budapest Technical University) respectively.
The Hungarian National Committee of ICA is working within the frame of the Society. President of the Committee is Dr. Árpád Papp-Váry, director of Cartographia, its secretary is Mr. Ernő Csáti, head of the Geocartographic Department of the Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing.

Official (State) Cartography

The 1:100 000 topographic series of the country was completed in 1987, while work on the 1:200 000 geographic base map series was finished in 1989. The 1:10 000 new topographic has a readiness of 60%.
A high-level government decree was issued in 1989 on the official Hungarian geographical names. It also calls for the collection of old geographical names and their preservation by recording them on official maps.

In 1989 the new National Atlas of Hungary was published. This cartographic work contains 603 thematic maps on 273 map-pages. The editorial board of the Atlas has been awarded the Széchenyi Prize, the highest Hungarian state recognition for scientific activity.

Private Cartography

Since 1990 some minor cartographic publishers have also appeared in Hungary.
The overwhelming majority of maps made for the general public is still produced by Cartographia/Budapest. It publishes an annual average of 30-35 new maps and another 120-150 maps in revised editions. The combined copies of all maps issued in one year exceeds 3 million. Cartographia also supplies schools with maps: 3 geographical and 3 historical atlases for schools are printed in altogether over half a million copies.
In 1991 Cartographia published or will publish the following maps:
20 road maps of foreign countries,
6 road atlases,
31 maps of different countries and continents,
2 world atlases,
26 maps of foreign cities,
93 maps of Hungarian towns and cities,
6 different maps of Budapest,
49 tourist maps of Hungarian regions,
17 domestic watersport maps,
88 other thematic atlases and maps
20 other maps on Hungary.

Some new publications of Cartographia between 1987-1989:
National Atlas of Hungary-Atlas of World History-Atlas of Human Cultural History (for secondary schools)
Relief Map of the World Map Series of African Countries New Series on Major European Countries:
Road Map of Italy 1:800 000, and Czechoslovakia 1:500 000
Middle East /one of our best-selling map in 1990 due to the Gulf Crisis/

The company also issues Cartactual, the world's only publication with cartographic information on changes affecting small-scale maps. The journal is published under the auspices of ICA.
Cartographia also produces significant amounts of maps for export. Its longest historic contacts are maintained with Falk Verlag/Hamburg, but it also closely co-operates with Stadte Verlag/Stuttgart and Freytag-Berndt/Vienna.
Since 1968 maps of foreign publishers are available in Hungarian bookshops. A great part of them is also imported by Cartographia.

Military Cartography

It strives for direct co-operation with civil organs in the field of cartographic research and technical development.
The activities of the military cartographic service are basically directed at satisfying the cartographic needs of the army. Consequently, due to its alliance commitments, it has been doing topographic mapping on reference surface (datum) and sheet lines different from those of the civil system.

Between 1983-1991 revised series of 1:25 000, 1:50 000, 1:100 000 and 1:200 000 scales covering the entire area of the country have been prepared. These topographic series are almost identical with the civil (Uniform National Map System) topographic maps as regards their content.
In this new situation the military cartographic service is making efforts to put an end to this uneconomic duplicity.
The Ágoston Tóth Cartographic Institute of the Hungarian Army has continued the publication of relief maps.
Between 1986-1991 the following maps were published:
Town map of Szekszárd
Zala County
Sopron and Vicinity
Tihany Peninsula
Pécs and Vicinity
Badacsony Hill and Vicinity
Budapest
Hungaroring
Town Map of Pilisvörösvár
The Earth (physical) - in co-operation with Cartographia
Relief Map of Hungary 1:500 000 with the coats-of-arms of towns
In preparation:
Lake Balaton and Hungary 1:500 000 adorned with historical coats-of-arms.

Utilizing for humanitarian purposes the experience gained with the production of relief maps the institute has carried on its publication programme of tactual maps for the blind.

The cartographic institute has also published products formerly unavailable for the general public. It produced in 1990 the photomap of Diósd, and in 1991 that of Sárvár on the order of the local self-governments.
It has greatly contributed to the professional history of Hungarian cartography by its research and publications on the past of military cartography.
The first volume of the History of Hungarian Military Cartography was published in June, 1991 by the military cartographic service.

Cartographic Training and Education

One secondary (grammar) school in Budapest trains cartographic professionals, or so-called cartographic technicians, at the intermediate level. (Period of training is 5 years following the 8-year primary basic education.)
Professional cartographers (with university degree) are trained at the Loránd Eötvös University of Sciences (Budapest) at its Department of Cartography. Besides conventional cartography computer techniques and aspects of map use have been given increasingly greater emphasis in education in recent years. An average of 6-7 cartography students graduate each year at the university. Since 1988 training has been carried on by programmes that also include recommendations of the ICA.

Scientific Research, Technical Development

Central places of research are the Department of Cartography of the Loránd Eötvös University, the Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing, and the Ágoston Tóth Cartographic Institute of the Hungarian Army. Among objects of research preparations for a national standard for digital data transfer for topographic maps, and the setting up of a computerized database for the complete national gazetteer have been given attention in recent years.

Geological, Geophysical Mapping

Editing of maps is performed in the Hungarian National Geological Survey and in the Loránd Eötvös Geophysical Institute. Compilation and final execution of the maps (fair draughts, reproduction) is done by Cartographia/Budapest. (Currently available geological, geophysical maps are included in the Catalogue of Cartographia - supplement to this report.)

Professional Journals

The professional journal of the Hungarian Society of Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing is "Geodézia és Kartográfia", published 6 times a year. Proportion of articles on cartography, remote sensing and cartographic history among the articles of the journal is some 18-21 %. Professionals of everyday practice - editors, compilers - unfortunately seldom publicize their direct experiences this way.

Professional and Social Organizations

The Hungarian Society of Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing is primarily a forum of professionals making a living from cartography (in the broad sense).
The activity of geographic scientists and teachers of geography using maps in their daily work is held together by the Cartographic Division of the Hungarian Geographical Society.
The Association of Friends of Maps is the Hungarian body for fans of maps of all ages and professions.
Members of the first two organizations meet an average 4-6 times a year, while the Association of Friends of Maps has meetings each month (except in the summer) to discuss
different interesting subjects.

Map Rooms
The two largest map collections in the country are handled by the Map Room of the National Széchényi Library and the Museum and Map Room of Military History. (Both collections displayed their activities on outstanding exhibitions during the 1989 Conference of ICA in Budapest.) The Széchényi Library published a catalogue of the individual manuscript maps in 2 volumes in 1990.

The 1989 Conference of ICA in Budapest
An honourable and grand work of Hungarian cartography in the period to be reported was organizing the Conference of ICA between 17-24 August, 1989 with 870 participants (including 155 Hungarians and 87 accompanying persons). Papers read numbered 223.
It cannot be our duty to judge the organization of the Conference, but it can safely be stated that Hungarian cartography most probably became better known to the participants of the Conference through the national exhibitions, technical visits and the papers contained in the Hungarian Cartographical Studies (pp. 294).

Hungarian Cartographic Experts Working as Members of Various ICA Commissions

Standing Commission on Education and Training
Dr. István Klinghammer
Department of Cartography of the Loránd Eötvös University of Sciences,
Budapest
Ludovika tér 2
H-1083

Standing Commission on Map Production Technology
Mr. Ernő Csáti
Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing
Budapest
Sas u. 19
H-1051

Standing Commission on Advanced Technology
Dr. Pál Divényi
Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing
Budapest
Sas u. 19
H-1051

Commission on National Atlases
Dr. László Bassa
Geographical Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Budapest
Andrássy út 62
H-1062

Commission on World Digital Datbases for Environmental Sciences
Dr. Árpád Papp-Váry
Cartographia
Budapest
Bosnyák tér 5
H-1149

Commission on Marine Cartography
Dr. Mátyás Márton
Cartographia
Budapest
Bosnyák tér 5
H-1149

Commission on Urban Cartography
Ms. Ágnes Boholy
Cartographia
Budapest
Bosnyák tér 5
H-1149

Commission on Thematic Mapping from Satellite Imagery
Dr. János Lerner
Hungarian Geographical Society
Budapest
Andrássy út 62
H-1062

Commission on Tactual and Low-Vision Mapping
Mr. József Biró
Ágoston Tóth Cartographic Institute of the Hungarian Army
Budapest
Szilágyi Erzsébet fasor 5-7
H-1024

Commission on Population Cartography
Mr. Béla Pokoly
Ministry of Agriculture
Department of Lands and Mapping
Budapest
Kossuth tér 11
H-1055

Working Group on the Marketing of Spatial Information
Mr. György Domokos
Hungarian Society of Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing
Budapest Fő u. 68
H-1027

Dr. Árpád Papp-Váry,
President Hungarian National Committee of ICA

Supplement :
Catalogue of Cartographia/Budapest