In mid-2007 the German national historical GIS went online (www.hgis-germany.de). It has been designed as a multi-purpose historical information system and covers German and central European history from 1820 to 1914, i.e. through the “long” 19th century. Although called a “national historical GIS”, it really is at the same time a GIS on the relations of individual states, because prior to 1871 Germany consisted of a lose federation of about 40 sovereign states, whose individual history is a large portion of HGIS Germany’s content. In addition, information on the relationships and interactions between these states has been integrated into the GIS, turning it into a prototype for an “international GIS” on the European state system. The paper will present the interaction already in the German GIS and put forward proposals on how to transfer these into a European platform.

The paper will explore the possibilities of using GIS as a tool for storing and presenting data on the relations between states – political, economic, dynastic, cultural – over time. Taking central Europe as point of departure, vistas for a historical GIS on the development of the European state system since 1815 will move into focus. In addition, some perspectives on the global will be dealt with, raising the issue of how GIS can aid with the construction of global state systems over the past 200 years.
Submission is made for possible inclusions in sessions on “cultural atlases”, GIS, or Humanities GIS.