The origins of the name “Schwabacher” are contested: There wasn’t a printing press in the Frankish village of Schwabach, nor was there a known type cutter with this name. Whereas the Latin Gutenberg Bibles had been set in Textura, many editions of the German Luther Bible used a font called Schwabacher instead. When Martin Luther translated the Bible into German, he did not merely help usher in new religious ideas he also helped usher in a new typeface. Its etymology is from the latin textura, meaning “fabric.” Calligraphic and latticed, this typeface is still considered the standard “medieval” font.
This was the standard font from the 12th to 15th centuries in western Europe, and famous works, like the Gutenberg Bible, used this typeface. In The Beginning, There Was Texturaīefore we had the classic Times New Roman (and its older, fancier cousin Garamond), tried and true Arial, and unexplainably annoying Comic Sans, we had Textura. But why do these typefaces look so different from other fonts, and why are they so closely associated with Germany? To find out, we’ll embark on a journey that begins with the history of the printed word. You’ve probably seen the funny-looking German typefaces (like in the illustration above) many times before: from museums and historical movies, to cute antique signs and perhaps even on your great-grandmother’s birth certificate, they’re practically synonymous with traditional German culture.
0 kommentar(er)
