Summary: From Military Geography to the Institute for the Military Geosystem
Gerhard Fasching
Military Geography in the Austrian Armed Forces of the Second Republic has its roots in the Gendarmerie Schools of the B-Gendarmerie which was supplied with maps by the Military Geography Section subordinated to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. While initially topographical maps of the US Army Map Service were used, the civilian Austrian Map 1:50,000, produced by the Federal Office of Metrology and Surveying, found widespread application later on.
The 1956 border protection operation at the Hungarian border clearly revealed the shortfalls in map equipment and the lack of a nationwide usable map-based reporting system. The situation was amended by the Austrian Military Map 1:20,000. Despite serious opposition, the Federal Office of Metrology and Surveying started to print its own military maps in 1958. The 1:50,000 map with a 4 cm grid for harmonizing the reporting system marked a milestone in the development. As of 1956 the Austrian Military Map 50 was further improved by adding information related to militarily important areas.
Since the military reporting grid system did not catch on, due to its complicated conversion system, the map sheets of the Austrian Military Map 200 were used as reporting grid rectangles since 1970, as part of the National Reporting Grid system. This did, however, not catch on either and was replaced in 1984 by the National Reporting Net which was usable for military as well as civil purposes. It was accompanied by a new military cartographic concept, as the doctrine of area defense called for the use of large-scale maps.
After the Cold War it became necessary to adapt the military map and reporting system to international standards, in particular to the Universal Transverse Mercator’s system (UTM). The first two cartographic works were completed within the short period of only three years and were usable as of early 2001.
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