Gerhard Bersu, Osbert G. S. Crawford und die Tabula Imperii Romani

Abstract

The present article describes the work of Gerhard Bersu in the context of the long-term international mapping project Tabula Imperii Romani (TIR), founded in 1928. Bersu’s engagement with the project began in 1931 and continued until the end of his life in 1964. The article examines Bersu’s close association with the project’s initiator, Osbert G. S. Crawford, and describes the initial successes and advances of the enterprise, the reverses suffered in the period immediately before and during World War II, the steps taken in the 1950s to revive it, and the resulting adoption of the TIR in 1957 by the International Union of Academies (UAI), under whose auspices work was resumed at a high level.