Eisenbahndenkmalpflege – Préservation du patrimoine ferroviaire – Railway Heritage Preservation

Following their international specialist conference on railway heritage preservation in 2022, the Specialist Service for the Preservation of Historical Monuments of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and the Chair of Construction Heritage and Preservation (ETH) have published a comprehensive volume with 50 contributions from authors from more than 10 countries, highlighting and discussing the many challenges and opportunities of the young field of heritage preservation.

The trilingual texts and the titlings in the sewn-bound volume with 460 pages are typeset with the regular and black cuts of Neue Moderne Grotesk FSL, while the cover variants reference a typographic hodgepodge of Neue Moderne Grotesk FSL, Futura, Helvetica and Univers Condensed, plus some unidentified numerals and color patterns found in typical mid-1900 Swiss railway tickets. In a wider context the format of the book (170×280 cm) references the typical Edmondson railway ticket that has been in use from 1840 until recently in countries all over the world. This also resonates with the international contributions about the topic of the railway heritage preservation (excerpt from the Schwabe Verlag):

The construction of many national railway networks was essentially completed in the early 20th century. Since then, the operation of the railway system with its buildings and artistically designed constructions has required constant adaptation to changing technical standards and requirements for usage requirements. It is only in this way that the functionality, safety and economic efficiency of the railway system can be guaranteed. However, the pressure to change is not only inherent to the system but is also driven by socio-political processes. How does the preservation of railway heritage position itself in this field of tension? What characterises the existing railway transport system and what heritage values are associated with it?

Eisenbahndenkmalpflege – Préservation du patrimoine ferroviaire – Railway Heritage Preservation was published by Schwabe Verlag and designed by Huber/Sterzinger and Miloš Gavrić. The book was printed by Merkur Medien on Werkdruck and Bierdeckelkarton papers by Fischer Papier. Texts in German, French, or English, with translated abstracts.

Extra love to Joshua Schenkel for the Edmondson railway ticket history and Weichi He for the custom embossing type.