M.E.R. Gesellschaftsreisen tourist brochure
The headline mixes Romanisch Kursiv No. 20 with Koch-Antiqua fett. The latter is used with both forms for s, but the former isn’t. The question mark is added from Cooper Black, while the smaller copy is set in Futura.
This 1931 group tours brochure was issued by the MER – Mitteleuropäisches Reisebüro G.m.b.H. – of Berlin. The brochure gives details of organised holiday tours across Europe, by train and ship, as well as an extensive tours of the USA, out via the HAPAG line and returning on the Norddeutschen Lloyd for a cool 2,800 RM. The brochure also has numerous adverts for resorts, hotels and travel companies.
The various adverts, a selection of which I have scanned here, are also interesting from a typographical and design standpoint. Many are in the very latest German ‘style’ and feature some interesting and often relatively new typefaces. This advert, with a variety of typefaces and a decorative border asks “Kennen Sie schon die volkstümlichen Gesellschaftsfahrten des MER?” (“Are you already familiar with the popular group trips offered by MER?”) It gives a list of destinations within Germany and abroad as described elsewhere in the brochure.
MER was formed as a Central European Travel Agency in Berlin in 1917 and grew to include the travel interests of the Austrian and Hungarian railways. Many of its services were similar to those of say, Thomas Cook, in the UK. The company was heavily implicated in the crimes of the National Socialist era and in post-war years the company, in both East and West Germany, underwent several complex reorganisations but survives under the name of DER Travel.
“Shakespeare’s hometown is the quiet, picturesque market town of Stratford-upon-Avon in the county of Warwickshire.” Motor can be seen in early use, featuring a non-standard narrow R.
“Don’t miss a chance to visit Lake Lucerne and its eight mountain railways during your trip to Switzerland”
Two weights of Memphis plus a drop cap from Schaefer-Versalien.
Schaefer-Versalien and all-caps Memphis for “Lucerne Lido, the Swiss lakeside resort”
“Finland – the idyllic land of a thousand lakes. A new travel destination!” More Motor – with a narrow alternate N.
Adverts for the San Marco Schiffahrts-Gesellschaft Venedig and Palace Hotel in Tunis, Tunisia. “San Marco” shows Motor’s narrow N again, and features yet another alternate glyph, this time for S. “Dalmatien” is in Berthold Block. The description of the hotel uses Koch-Antiqua.
