FlotteKarte is a low-overhead plotting routine using Matplotlib, NumPy, and PyPROJ under the hood. The conceptual idea behind this package is that a map is fully defined through the 2D cartesian coordinates that result from applying the map projection to different geographical data. For displaying data on a two-dimensional canvas, Matplotlib is a powerful tool. Conversion between geographic and projected coordinates can easily be done using PyProj. The gap between these two powerful tools and a polished map lies in potential difficulties when translating spherical line topology to 2D cartesian space, and by introducing typical map decorations such as grids or ticks. FlotteKarte aims to fill this gap with a simple interface.

FlotteKarte's philosophy is to work completely within the 2D projected coordinates, that is, very close to the projected data. If projected coordinates of data can be obtained, the data can be drawn directly on the underlying Matplotlib Axes. The Map class can then be used to add typical map decoration to that axes using information that it derives from the numerics of the PROJ projection.