Ideal-Grotesk in use https://www.fontsinuse.com/typefaces/31987/ideal-grotesk Ideal-Grotesk in use. A copy of Bauer’s Venus-Grotesk [Shaw]. Originated at Bauer [Handwritten note in Berthold specimen, via Reynolds]. First cast by Julius Klinkhardt in 1908 and later by Berthold who had acquired the foundry in 1920. Reichardt lists nine styles, incl. two condensed weights (added in 1918) and two&nbsp;italic styles. Seven styles (all but the italics) are shown in Klimschs Jahrbuch 1921/1922. In Dec. 1930, Berthold registered two condensed weights, schmal halbfett and schmal dreiviertelfett, with a note saying these were previously known as “eng” [VdS]. The mager (regular) was also sold by Arndt/John as Karten-Grotesk fein and by Genzsch &amp; Heyse as Titania-Grotesk. The dreiviertelfett is identical to Atomic Gothic (Kobundo), Lorraine (Triangle). Ideal-Grotesk umzogen was Klinkhardt’s name for Comstock (Inland/Lanston Monotype) [Reichardt 2011]. Not to be confused with Weisert’s Ideal-Grotesk. en Copyright 2026 , FontsInUse.com LLC Sun, 19 Jul 2026 02:35:41 +0000 Sun, 19 Jul 2026 02:35:41 +0000 3600 <![CDATA[True Type of the Bauhaus]]> https://www.fontsinuse.com/uses/5/typefaces-at-the-bauhaus Indra Kupferschmid







ITC Bauhaus in Dessau

Even in Dessau, buildings are unwisely adorned with ITC Bauhaus, a child of the American ’70s, not the German ’20s.

It might be disappointing to some, but most of what the Bauhaus printed in their early years was set not in geometric sans serifs but in art nouveau flavoured text faces. The initial Bauhaus manifest from 1919 (below), for example, used Ohio by Schriftguss AG (LTC Pabst Oldstyle is the most similar digital font available). Back then, one had to content oneself with the fonts a printer had in stock.

Bauhaus Serifs

Typical early Bauhaus documents using serif typefaces.

Later, the typefaces used by the Bauhaus fit better within the ideas of the “New Typography”: a clear, modern, industrial atmosphere achieved by anonymously designed, rather dark Grotesque faces stripped of all unnecessary decorative elements.

Breite Halbfette Grotesk

Breite Halbfette Grotesk in a 1912 Schelter & Giesecke specimen

Poelzig Announcement by Herbert Bayer

A 1925 announcement by Herbert Bayer using Breite Halbfette Grotesk. FF Bau (2004) is a digital interpretation of this face.

Bayer Bauhaus

This drawing by Herbert Bayer wasn’t produced as a typeface.

A typeface in this vein often found in their later materials is Breite halbfette Grotesk by Schelter & Giesecke, recently revived as FF Bau by Christian Schwartz. Others are Venus and Ideal Grotesk, later recycled in Monotype Grotesque.

But the typographic ideas of the Bauhaus, above all Herbert Bayer and Joost Schmidt, went further. The radical constructivist designs we now immediately connect with “Bauhaus”, however, were only carried out in drafts — drawings and lettering — never in a typeface.

Paul Renner’s Futura was clearly inspired by the concepts of the Bauhaus (see experimental letters) but came out no earlier than 1927. Then, however, it was accepted as the “type of our time”.

The typeface ITC Bauhaus is a design from 1975 by Ed Benguiat and Victor Caruso inspired by the ideas of Bayer, Schmidt et al, but it is not a revival of any Bauhaus design.

So, what typefaces should we choose to be more imaginative?

Typefaces like the ones used by the Bauhaus. For example:

Geometric, constructivist typefaces based on the design ideas of the Bauhaus:

Also check out this FontList at FontShop.


This post was originally published at Fonts In Use
]]> https://www.fontsinuse.com/uses/5/typefaces-at-the-bauhaus Tue, 21 Dec 2010 07:40:00 +0000 Indra Kupferschmid