Kauffer, an engineer, topographer and cartographer, came to Istanbul for the first time in 1784 under the patronage of Count Choiseul Gouffier, the last French ambassador to Istanbul at the time. Ambassador Gouffier was a very interesting person and travelled with a large delegation of artists, cartographers, painters and geographers, including Kauffer. He set up an observatory for this delegation in the French palace in the Taksim district and assigned this team according to their talents and gave Kauffer the task of drawing a map of Istanbul.

In the meantime, Ambassador Gouffier mediated for the establishment of good relations between France and the Ottoman Empire and endeavoured for the co-operation of these two countries. He provoked the Ottomans against Russia and was successful in this endeavour. Later on, Kauffer played a very important role in the improvement of the relations between these two countries and their alliance, which I will mention in the following section.