From fortress flagpole to the Greenwich line: The establishment of a common prime meridian in Norway in the period 1770–1970

Abstract

The author analyses the use of prime meridians on selected Norwegian maps in the period 1770–1970. The aim is to show the progression from a time of multiple local prime meridians, through a period in which Sweden tried to impose cartographic unity on the two countries, to the decades after Norwegian political independence in 1905 and the establishment of the Greenwich longitudinal line as the prime meridian on Norwegian maps. Comparative methods were used to study both analogue and digitized versions of maps, as well as literature from the study period. Additionally, for some of the maps, the reasons for the choice of prime meridian were explored and the maps were considered in a political context. Relevant international circumstances included the cartographic controversy between France and Britain and the prime meridian of Philadelphia as a symbol of American independence. The results revealed that Norwegian prime meridians were used as a political instrument. The author concludes that Sweden did not succeed in its geopolitical ambition to unify Scandinavian cartography, and that the use of varying prime meridians on Norwegian maps was only gradually ended by national unity.

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