I Remember Germany album series
![Vol. 1 features with custom script lettering and a lady dreaming of Gutenfels Castle above the Rhine. The small type at the bottom is in red caps from Wide. [More info on Discogs]](https://fiu-original.b-cdn.net/fontsinuse.com/use-images/146/146374/146374.jpeg?filename=40814235753_96f4fc7553_4k.jpg)
Vol. 1 features Filmotype Viking with custom script lettering and a lady dreaming of Gutenfels Castle above the Rhine. The small type at the bottom is in red caps from Franklin Gothic Wide. [More info on Discogs]
I Remember Germany is a series of folk music compilations released by Fiesta Records in the early 1960s. The record label was established by Jose Morand in New York in 1952 and specialized in international music, in particular from Continental Europe and Latin America. Their I Remember… series also covered music from other countries. There were at least eleven volumes in the Germany subseries alone. Shown here is a selection of eight album covers.
![Vol. 2 has a view into Segringerstraße in the historic town of Dinkelsbühl. The title is shown in red caps from Ultrabold Extended. “Volume 2” probably is in the regular-wide Bold style from the same family (or , on which it is based on). The yellow lines at the bottom left are set in two weights of . [More info on Discogs]](https://fiu-original.b-cdn.net/fontsinuse.com/use-images/N245/245318/245318.jpeg?filename=149410.jpeg)
Vol. 2 has a view into Segringerstraße in the historic town of Dinkelsbühl. The title is shown in red caps from Twentieth Century Ultrabold Extended. “Volume 2” probably is in the regular-wide Bold style from the same family (or Futura, on which it is based on). The yellow lines at the bottom left are set in two weights of Venus Extended. [More info on Discogs]
![Vol. 3 depicts St. Peter in Bacharach on the Rhine. The rigid blackletter isn’t of German origin: it’s by , designed for American Type Founders in 1934. It’s contrasted with . Small text at the bottom uses Italic and more . [More info on Discogs]](https://fiu-original.b-cdn.net/fontsinuse.com/use-images/146/146372/146372.jpeg?filename=51441853902_3bc652d00e_4k.jpg)
Vol. 3 depicts St. Peter in Bacharach on the Rhine. The rigid blackletter isn’t of German origin: it’s American Text by Morris Fuller Benton, designed for American Type Founders in 1934. It’s contrasted with Filmotype Lariat. Small text at the bottom uses Century Expanded Italic and more Venus Extended. [More info on Discogs]
![Vol. 4 is openly dedicated to beer and beer drinking songs. In terms of typography, it features more and , this time together with . [More info on Discogs]](https://fiu-original.b-cdn.net/fontsinuse.com/use-images/N245/245319/245319.jpeg?filename=lp_i-remember-germany-vol-iv-german-beer_various-c.jpg)
Vol. 4 is openly dedicated to beer and beer drinking songs. In terms of typography, it features more American Text and Venus Extended, this time together with Filmotype Warden. [More info on Discogs]
![and also serve for vol. 5. The wide slab is . The photograph shows the town hall of Michelstadt with its timber-frame construction, with several Volkswagen Beetle parked in front of it. [More info on Discogs]](https://fiu-original.b-cdn.net/fontsinuse.com/use-images/N245/245322/245322.jpeg?filename=51482642942_579021422e_4k.jpg)
American Text and Venus Extended also serve for vol. 5. The wide slab is Filmotype Wand. The photograph shows the town hall of Michelstadt with its timber-frame construction, with several Volkswagen Beetle parked in front of it. [More info on Discogs]
Vol. 7 is an exception in that it focuses on a single artist, Willy Schneider (1905–1989), who “recorded more than 800 records in the ‘Rhine and wine’ genre.” The script is Filmotype Latin.
![On the cover of vol. 9, we get to see young folks in traditional costume, drinking wine somewhere above the Rhine. The script is . [More info on Discogs]](https://fiu-original.b-cdn.net/fontsinuse.com/use-images/N245/245321/245321.jpeg?filename=IRG 9.jpg)
On the cover of vol. 9, we get to see young folks in traditional costume, drinking wine somewhere above the Rhine. The script is Filmotype York. [More info on Discogs]
![Vol. 10 returns to blackletter. Again, it’s not a German design, but another creation by , . The bold sans-serif caps are from or . “Golden Tone Stereo” uses . The fairytale castle is Neuschwanstein. [More info on Discogs]](https://fiu-original.b-cdn.net/fontsinuse.com/use-images/N245/245320/245320.jpeg?filename=IRG 10.jpg)
Vol. 10 returns to blackletter. Again, it’s not a German design, but another creation by Morris Fuller Benton, Engravers Old English. The bold sans-serif caps are from Twentieth Century or Futura. “Golden Tone Stereo” uses Copperplate Gothic. The fairytale castle is Neuschwanstein. [More info on Discogs]
4 Comments on “I Remember Germany album series”
I remember Germany different :)
It’s definitely a quite specific and stereotypical image of Germany, seen from a mid-20th century U.S. perspective, and through rose-colored (or alcohol-clouded) glasses. Geographically, it’s limited to the southern parts of (post-WWII) West Germany. All of the shown places are either inside the American occupation zone, or, like Bacharach, just outside on the other bank of the Rhine. These “memories” are likely informed by U.S. soldiers stationed in Germany during and after the war, but omitting all of the horrors of the (then) recent history.
Filmotype Vision is also a similar version to Viking and Zion?
Vision is an outlined variant of Zion, and is mentioned as such on the typeface page. Unlike later devices for phototypesetting, the Filmotype machine didn’t allow for effects such as slanting, squeezing, or adding shadows and outlines. That’s why such derivative styles had to be offered as separate fonts. We usually don’t maintain pages for such effect variants. But since Filmotype gave these styles distinct names, and since we already started a page for the shaded Viking, there’s no reason why we can’t have a page dedicated to Vision, too. Done now.