O Atlas Escolar Portuguez de 1897 de Ricardo Lüddecke: Análise e Influência Alemã

The History of Geography Teaching in Portugal is still incipiently developed. The 19th century was particularly relevant for school cartography. Portugal tried to follow this development that was taking shape in several countries. In this context, the General Directorate of Public Instruction of Portugal ordered the German publisher Justus Perthes to produce the Atlas Escolar Portuguez (1897) by Richard Lüddecke, which had two editions. Thus, being a relevant document for the knowledge of the history of school atlases in Portugal, it was analyzed and compared with the Deutscher Schulatlas (1895) by the same author. We frame this analysis with references to the teaching of geography and cartography in the 19th century in Portugal, as well as framing this production of Atlas Escolar Portuguez in the international context of the production of school atlases in the 19th century. From this analysis, we highlight that Lüddecke's Portuguese atlas is very similar to the original German version, despite it seeks to introduce some specific maps of Portuguese reality, as well it tries to place the Iberian Peninsula as a territory of comparison in several maps (which in the German version also occurs with the German land). From an international perspective, this development of school atlases in the 19th century is deeply related to the development of nation-states and colonialism. The analysis of Lüddecke's Atlas Escolar Portuguez is therefore relevant to the history of Geography Teaching in Portugal and the study of school cartography in the international context.