Lufthansa manager turns cartographer
Lufthansa manager turns cartographer
JAKARTA (JP): Want to know how many new roads and housing
complexes there are in Greater Jakarta? See Gunther W. Holtorf,
and you will get very satisfactory answers.
Gunther W. Holtorf, who lives in a small town near Munich,
Germany, never dreamt of becoming a cartographer.
Holtorf was the manager of Lufthansa in Jakarta, and lived on
Jl. Bangka, Kemang, from 1973 to 1985.
His habit of making small sketches for friends, of how to get
to his house, taught him to be a very accurate cartographer,
especially of the Jakarta area.
He said many friends had encouraged him to be more serious
about "his hobby".
"In 1974 and 1975 I visited City Planning Office and the City
Mapping Agency and in 1977 I started to make maps area by area
(small folder maps) of Jakarta," Holtorf, the father of one
daughter, said.
Holtorf has had to frequent many areas, including kampongs, to
get the latest accurate data of the development (and change) of
the areas. "I have never come across any difficulties with area
residents," he said.
His latest product Falkplan Street Atlas - Jakarta/Jabotabek
(11 Edition '97/98) is totally different from those of the
previous years.
"The new street atlas contains an enlargement of Greater
Jakarta with Puncak in the South, Karawang in the East and
Balaraja in the West," Holtorf said. "Greater Jakarta with its
around 20 million population is growing very rapidly and the 85-
page new street atlas covers everything accurately," he said.
"There were only 12 golf courses in Greater Jakarta in between
1993 and 1994, but now there are 49 golf courses," he said.
He said he owned the copyright, but "The point is that I have
done something for the people. I don't live on the map. The map
kept me busy over the past year. I'm happy that people use the
map. The happiness is much more than any money I get," he said.
The street atlas, which costs Rp 58,000 a copy, is published
by FALK-Verlag, Hamburg, Germany and is distributed by PT
Djambatan, Jakarta. (sur)