We found this old map in grandmas house. How old is it?

The map shows that Finland had lost the Karelian Isthmus, so the map must be from after the end of the Winter War, March 1940

WW2 obviously. Poland has been partitioned by the USSR and Nazi Germany already, which means the war has started. That’s why Czech and Austria are also annexed by Germany. Now, the war started in 1939, but the annexation of Northern Transylvania by Hungary did not happen until late August 1940. However, that same month also saw the annexation of the Baltic states by the USSR, while the annexation by them of Bessarabia should have already happened in June that year. It’s almost as if the maker of the map didn’t recognise the Soviet expansion except for Poland…

This is “Gyldendals kart over Europa”, drawn by cartographer Einar Schløier and published by gyldendal in Oslo, Norway in several editions throughout 1940-44, as the borders and city names were rapidly changing.

You seem to have the 11th edition of December 1942, you can see an ad for this edition here. This is my copy of the full map, for comparison. Here is a 1940 edition with Germany’s borders marked in bright red.

People would hang this on their walls and follow the development of the war using pins for troops movements and wool thread for the changing borders. Here is a copy that was used in this way.

In total, 15 editions were printed, the last in 1944. All were undated.

This is a map from late 1939. Source map of Europe the day before the USSR attack on Poland, so Poland is still on the map, but rest is the same. And because Poland is no longer on the map you post, but there are the Baltic states. It is the end of 1939 and the beginning of 1940.

I understand that you are asking from what period this map is, not when it was produced. Just because is show Europe in late 1939, doesn’t mean it’s from this year. It may have been printed in 1980-90 or some other year :stuck_out_tongue:

End of 1939 or early 1940 probably.

Italy has Albania, and Poland has been split between the Germans and the Russians, but France, Belgium and the Netherlands still have their territories.

Before I look, the confusing bit is 3 Baltic States, but no Poland.

Edit: Were these borders kept during the War?

Czechoslovakia is gone and Slovakia is a separate country, so this is from some time after March 1939.

After September 1939 before 1941

Bielefeld is not on the map, so accurate map.

Grandma has a secret…

Its atleast a year old

Oh dear, these were some fun times weren’t they. :joy:

They misspelled ‚Giessen‘ as ‚Geissen‘, just north of Frankfurt.

Poland is already divided between the Reich and Ussr. But Luxembourg and Belgium still exists… so it must be between 6th of October 1939 and 10th of may 1940

Son, I’ve got some bad news for you about your grandma…

This map probably is from between October 1939 (when Poland was fully occupied and was split between Germany in the West and the USSR in the East, and also a minor part by Lituania) and June 1940 (When the French Government fell against the Germans and surrendered on the 22nd of June, and thus gave Alsace-Moselle to Germany, was split between a northern German occupation zone and a Southern Independent Axis-friendly French government, Vichy France).

That’s right around WWII.

Start-Mid WW2 i think

Its from WW2. Just look at Hungary and Germany

A traintrack in Sweden that opened in 1927 is not on the map. The east coast line (Ostkustbanan).