Originally cut by Wagner & Schmidt and cast as Kristall-Grotesk by Norddeutsche Schriftgießerei in 1936–38 and later by Johannes Wagner. Versions of the same design were released by other foundries as Polar-Grotesk (John, 1930–37, registered in Nov. 1930, proofs sent in June 1931 [VdS]), Rund-Grotesk (Weber, 1931–39), Saxo grotesk (Berling), Predilecta (Iranzo, 1935, credited to A. Saurí Sirés) [Reichardt 2011], and Universal Grotesk (Státní tiskárna/Grafotechna, 1935?).

Not all versions are identical in regard to the style range and the design of some glyphs (e.g. there are both cuts with single and double-storey ‘a’). Kristall-Grotesk has alternates for ‘AÄMNVW’, with pointed and flat apexes.

Digitally revived by Elsner+Flake as Kristall Grotesk (2009) and extended as Kristall Now (2010). While the former spans the seven original styles incl. the caps-only lichtfett, latter comes in seven weights in regular and condensed widths. The regular wide styles have italics. All upright styles but the bold ones come with small caps.

See also Globe Grotesk Display (Jan Charvát, 2014) and Uni Grotesk (Typotheque, 2016) for interpretations of Universal Grotesk.