page_title: Martin Behaim
section_title: Behaim globe
hierarchical_section_title: Martin Behaim / Behaim globe
caption_attribution_description: Reproduction of the globe of Martin Behaim, 1492.
context_page_description: Martin Behaim, also known as Martin von Behaim and by various forms of Martin of Bohemia, was a German textile merchant and cartographer. He served John II of Portugal as an adviser in matters of navigation and participated in a voyage to West Africa. He is now best known for his Erdapfel, the world's oldest surviving globe, which he produced for the Imperial City of Nuremberg in 1492.
context_section_description: After Behaim returned to Nuremberg in 1490, leading members of the city council financed the construction of a terrestrial globe. Under  the direction of Behaim, a team of artisans and craftsmen constructed what has become the oldest extant globe. Georg Glockendon was the artist who created the actual map drawings following Behaim's specifications.
  The globe is about 21 inches (51 cm) in diameter and was fashioned from a type of papier-mache and coated with gypsum. The ball was supported on a wooden tripod and secured by a pair of iron hoops. Glockendon's map drawings were painted onto parchment strips and pasted into position around the sphere. The globe contains more than 2,000 place names, 100 pictorial illustrations (plus 48 banners and 15 coats of arms), and more than 50 long legends. Many of the notations deal with fabulous monsters of foreign countries and their inhabitants, plants and animals. Many notes also deal with trade, explorations, and famous travelers like Marco Polo.
  The world map depicted on the Behaim globe is based primarily on the geography of the second-century geographer Ptolemy.  It also combines geographical information from other sources, including Marco Polo, John Mandeville, and Portuguese explorer Diogo Gomes. It is notable for lacking more current Portuguese geographic data which should have been available to Behaim and it contains numerous errors that did not reflect contemporary geographical understanding.
  The completed globe, which came to be called Erdapfel (earth apple) by the townspeople, was originally housed in Nuremberg's city hall. In the 17th century the Behaim family took possession of the globe. It was inexpertly restored in 1823 and again in 1847, resulting in the corruption of many place-names and labels. The German National Museum in Nuremberg later took possession of the globe, which is commonly known as the Nuremberg Terrestrial Globe.
  The antiquity of this globe and the year of its execution, on the eve of the discovery of the Americas, makes it not just the oldest globe but also represents an encyclopedia of Europe's knowledge of the known world in 1492.
caption: Detail of the Atlantic Ocean envisioned by Martin Behaim
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