The German cartographer August Petermann published one of the main geographical journals of the 19th century, Geographische Mitteilungen, collected extensive data on the physical geography of the North, and helped organize the first German expeditions to the Polar region. His archival collection in the Justus Perthes publishing house in Gotha contains many documents related to Petermann’s contacts with Russia and Russian geographers. They include correspondence with colleagues in Russia, documents on articles by Russian scholars which were published in Petermann’s journal, and Petermann’s own articles translated and published in Russia. The documents throw important new light on the history of geography in the Russian Empire, particularly the mapping of European Russia, Eastern Siberia, the Tien-Shan Mountains, the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, and the Taymyr peninsula.