Paper short abstract:

The paper (1) maps a history of European ethno-cartography with special attention to the ambitious project of Ethnological Atlas of Europe (EAE) promoted in 1966 and (2) analyses and explains the reasons of the later failure of EAE project.

Paper long abstract:

During the 1960s, international co-operation within European ethnology underwent huge development. This was particularly the result of favourable international political circumstances, increasing efforts of a progressive generation of ethnologists and also due to the institutional and paradigmatic establishment of comparative European ethnology. Many research plans of that time resulted in outstanding and still valid scientific outputs, while others have remained uncompleted. One of the most ambitious projects, which was officially promoted by Ständige Internationale Atlaskommission in 1966, was the elaboration of Ethnological Atlas of Europe (EAE). EAE and its preparation was designed as a masterpiece of cartographic ethnology, which have flourished almost all over the Europe since 1930s. During next decade several international ethno-cartographical conferences took place both in Eastern and Western Europe and unprecedented amount of research and organizational work was done. However project as a whole failed and only one volume (Zender 1980) dedicated to annual fires was published.

The aim of the paper is therefore twofold: (1) To map and describe a history, personal, theoretical and methodological background of European ethno-cartography with special attention to EAE in 1960s and 1970s including its important feature as a research networking activity, which was substantially crossing the limits of "Iron Curtain". (2) To explain the reasons of the later failure of EAE project, which was most likely caused by a multiple reasons: e. g. generation clash within European ethology, political and ideological oppressions in Eastern Europe, late linguistic turn, constructivist offensive and related transformation of ethnological paradigm and focus.