Abstrakt
The systematic research into the battlefield plans of the Thirty Years' War (1618 - 1648) in the Czech Republic has been under way in cooperation of the Charles University and the Czech Technical University in Prague. The research deals with the collection of 26 plans from 17 localities which were published between the 1620s and the 1650s, mainly in the first six volumes of the Theatrum Europaeum in Frankfurt am Main, in contemporary newsletters or in some other form.
The paper presents the study of the engraving depicting the Central Bohemian town Kolín in February 1640 and it can clearly demonstrate the benefits that can be gained from using advanced geospatial technologies to study historical sites and image related analysis. The GIS software provides number of useful tools and functions which can be used for making a digital terrain model, various analyses (the visibility, the scale analysis), georeferencing of the old map files, spatial identification of objects marked on the engraving (the course of a former fortification wall), location of raster maps or the picture of the engraving on a digital terrain model and creation an isometric view with the location of the imperial army in accordance to the engraving and mapping the possible routes of troops across the Elbe River.
It is evident that the historical engraving was not designed as a full-fledged cartographic work and does contain a number of inaccuracies, however its analysis using GIS technologies brings valuable findings about the features of the town Kolín and its surroundings in the second half of the 17th century. It is supposed that the common historical and geospatial research will continue focusing on some other localities of the Thirty Years' War Battlefields in the Czech Republic.