Austrian Cadastre still in use – Example proceedings to determine the legal status of land property in southern Poland

The cadastral map is a large-scale cartographic record of property ownership that preserves the dimensions and shape of an owned land parcel on the earth surface, but also the spatial relationship of all individual parcels to each other. There are hundreds of thousands of cadastral maps to be found all over the world. Cadastral maps aided land assignment and taxation, presenting statistics essential for territorial administration, or as a symbol of state control over land. The historical land cadastre introduced in the early nineteenth century in the Austrian Empire, was the foundation of many countries' land register systems. One of the areas it covered was Galicia, a southern part of Poland annexed by Austria in the eighteenth century during the Partitions. The study evaluates the use of old Austrian cadastral maps in southern Poland, mainly in matters related to property boundaries. The Austrian Cadastre lost its importance in Poland after the Second World War due to sociopolitical changes. Still, it became a source of data on real property boundaries once again after the 1989 transformation, which restituted and enhanced ownership rights. Today, modern court proceedings on boundary disputes, easement appurtenant decisions, release of property, grant of property title, or usucaption often need to refer to historical legal sources, including the Austrian Cadastre (cadastral maps and land tax registers) to determine ownership boundaries. The paper presents numerous examples of modern uses of historical land cadastre documents, including cadastral maps and land tax registers in land surveying and legal procedures in Poland. The results show that data from the historical land cadastre remain a source of information when determining ownership boundaries despite the time passed. Therefore, the cadastral documentation offers not only historical and research value but also a practical one.