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Shortcuts to Scenic Maps (Freizeitkarten), Aral atlases and Aral maps from outside Germany
Aral's origins go back over 100 years, to the formation of Westdeutsche Benzol-Verkaufs-Vereinigung GmbH in
November 1898 as a marketer of benzole, a by-product of coal. From this lengthy name, the abbreviation
BV was used as a trading name and the main motor spirit was Bevaulin. In 1924 a new name was added to certain blends:
ARAL, which came from the words "ARomaten" and "ALiphate" which were felt to be the new fuel's qualities.
Over the next 50 years ARAL became the main brand, although the BV was not removed from the logo until 1974.
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Two classic BV maps from 1935 & around 1954. The former shows a typical zapfstelle fuel pump and was the final year of the first edition, whilst the latter proudly claims that Aral is bleifrei (lead-free). |
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Aral acquired Gasolin in the 1950s but did not change the branding until August 1971. Gasolin was the successor
to Leuna, the retail petrol arm of the pre-war industrial conglomerate IG-Farben. |
In 1936 BV introduced a second series which increased the scale of its maps to 1:500,000, requiring 13 sections, including one centred on Berlin. Cartography was probably by Witzel, and marked towns with Aral stations by shading them blue. Coloured flags were used to indicate locations that sold Derop (1936) or had Bevaulin or diesel pumps (from 1937). From left, this 1936 map was centred on Berlin and promotes Deropol oil and Derop Benzin, but by 1937 the cover promotes Bevaulin. |
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The 1939 map (above right) shows how Germany had annexed not only Austria, but SW Poland (Silesia-Pomerania) and Bohemia. Inside it is dated 1.4.1939, although some maps with the same internal date do not show Bohemia (Czechoslovakia) as part of Germany on the cover. The physical size of the sheets varied considerably, depending on the area covered by the map. |
After the war, a third series covered West Germany was in 13 sections. The 1951 map (which, unusually, is dated) still had an old-fashioned zapfstelle shown; by 1954 (edition III/5) it had been replaced by a more modern petrol pump and oil cabinet. |
From around 1955, Aral increased the sheet size to enable west Germany to be covered by 7 sectional maps in dark blue covers. The Aral section 2 is from a series issued around 1959, and the bolder section 3 from 1972/3. These are all marked as the 4th series, but now attributed to Busche of Dortmund. |
In 1974 a simplified Aral logo and lighter blue was introduced, and for much of the 1980s floated on a variable cloud pattern. By 1991 the clouds had gone, and Germany was finally re-unified, needing 2 extra sections. |
As a broad generalisation maps from before World War II give more prominence to BV and after the war to Aral. The main sectional maps (8 to 1935, 12 from 1935-8, 13 after Austria was annexed, 13 just covering West Germany in the early 1950s, 7 during the partition of Germany and 9 since reunification) have always had relatively plain covers, usually in blue with an outline map of the area covered. Inside they have been produced by Busche Verlag of Dortmund and consistently marked towns and villages with Aral stations, allowing a fascinating picture of the changes in the number of service stations over a 65 year period. (Only Conoco in the US offers a similar historical record.) They have always been available as sets in a leatherette or plastic wallet, and the 1930s sets included an extra map covering 100km around Berlin and a sheet showing road signs and a summary of the motoring laws. Recent maps have come in card covers if sold singly, or with paper covers of the same design when sold at a special price in a vinyl wallet. |
Aral occasionally issued maps outside the sectional series. BV maps of cities are uncommon; Hannover dates from the mid-50s and may have been issued for visitors to one of the trade fairs held there. A map also exists for Berlin from the same period. Most cities were covered by relatively simple maps drawn on the reverse of the sectional maps, as shown on the Freiburg im Breisgau page. The diesel map at 1:1,000,000 was printed around 1953, and lists all BV stations selling diesel - note that Aral was only used for petrol (gasoline) grades. |
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Aral has also produced other maps for many years. The enlarged map of the Ruhr (far left) dates from the late 1950s and highlights Aral-Methan stations. In the mid-1980s they added an enlarged map of Rhein-Main-Gebiet with card covers; this map was later (1997) repackaged for the coal producer Steag. Neither map is dated, but both were by Busche. |
Busche's web site (http://www.busche.de/) shows that most of their cartographic products are branded by Aral.
Collectors may occasionally see BV-Tourenblätter advertised, often as large scale walking maps of Germany or Austria. These are unconnected with BV-Aral, but are published by BergVerlag Rudolf Rother of Munich.
Follow these links to see Gasolin, Leuna and Nitag or Derop maps.
Text and layout © Ian Byrne, 1999-2007 |