The origins of Akzidenz-Grotesk

Peter Behrens“Feste des Lebens und der Kunst: eine Betrachtung des Theaters
 als höchsten Kultursymbols” (1900).

The very first sans serif typeface was published in England, ca. 1816. It did not create waves in typography immediately, but the use of sans serifs would increase over time. The first sans serif sold in Germany was introduced by the type foundry inside Eduard Haenel’s Magdeburg printing-house in 1833. The matrices for this Neuste Titel-Versalien, Zehnte Sorte were imported from Caslon & Livermore in London. Like other early British sans serifs, this approximately 36-pt face was an all-caps design.

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