The Map department has always been regarded as Germany's centre for cartographic holdings. It collects maps, atlases, views, and specialist literature from every country and in every language.

Holdings as of September 01/2021:

• 1,200,000 map sheets (among these are 30,000 manuscript maps)
• 250,000 digitised map sheets
• 2,900 CD-ROMs
• 36,000 atlases
• 155,000 views
• 38,000 books on cartography
• 800 globes

On behalf of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) the Map Department of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin hosts the
Specialised Information Service Cartography and Geodata as well as the period 1701-1912 for maps and views of the
Sammlung Deutscher Drucke.

Furthermore it holds the map collection and library of the
Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin, which are on permanent loan, and it is also the depot library of the 
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kartographie.

The foci of the collection reflect the department's functions and the history of collection growth. Topographic maps of different scales and types from every country of the world are collected and listed in the separate database Topo-List.

The department acquires literature on cartography: relevant publications, journals, collections of articles, or exhibition catalogues covering all pertinent subject areas. The material which is international in scope is also catalogued and classified in the