# German Book Art Movement (Buchkunstbewegung)

> The German reform of the book, from the magazine Pan (1895) to the private presses that ended around 1933. After Morris's Kelmscott Press, artists, printers and publishers treated a book as one work in which text, type, illustration, paper, presswork and binding agree. A Jugendstil start of floral borders and Beardsley-like drawing gave way, from about 1900, to a typographic phase: artist-drawn romans and Frakturen, hand-press printing on handmade paper, and drawn titles and woodcut initials as the only ornament. After 1918 illustration returned, as at the Cranach-Presse.

- Period: 1895–1933
- Where: Central Europe
- Origin: Germany, from the 1890s: Munich, Berlin, Leipzig and Darmstadt, with presses in Weimar and Bremen and, in Offenbach, the Gebr. Klingspor type foundry, which commissioned faces from Behrens and Tiemann and had Rudolf Koch as its house designer; a reform of the industrial book after William Morris's Kelmscott Press and the English private presses, carried by magazines, publishers such as Eugen Diederichs and Insel Verlag, and private presses
- Branch: Craft & organic
- Also known as: Buchkunstbewegung, Deutsche Buchkunst, German private press movement, Book art movement
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/buchkunstbewegung/

## Use it with care

Fraktur carries political weight in German-speaking countries: the Nazi regime pushed it as the German script in its first years before banning it in January 1941 (see the blackletter-fraktur caution). Several of the movement's presses and artists were active up to the 1933 seizure of power, after which Harry Graf Kessler of the Cranach-Presse never returned to Germany. Check how a Fraktur page or a 'German book art' label will read, especially for anything national or political.

## How it works

- Design the book as one work: settle text, typeface, initials, paper, presswork and binding together, under one artist or printer-designer.
- Set a single justified text block in one artist-drawn face, a roman cut after incunabula or a new Fraktur or gothic, and keep that face through the whole book.
- From about 1900, let drawn titles and large woodcut initials be the only ornament and leave out borders, vignettes and printers' flowers; only the Jugendstil start (Pan, Die Insel, to about 1900) still framed the page in floral borders and vignettes and drew in a Beardsley-like line.
- Print on the hand press on handmade paper or vellum, in black, adding red sparingly as a second colour.
- When a book is illustrated, commission woodcuts or line drawings from artists and print them with the type on the text page.
- Give cheap editions the same care: a uniform series in a small format, bound in patterned-paper boards with printed labels.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Classical text block](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/classical-text-block/) (defining)
- [Central symmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/central-symmetry/) (characteristic)
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Measured density](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/measured-density/) (defining)
- [Generous white space](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/generous-white-space/) (characteristic)
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (occasional)
- [Repetition & rhythm](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/repetition-and-rhythm/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Humanist & Garalde serif](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/humanist-and-garalde-serif/) (defining)
- [Blackletter](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/blackletter/) (characteristic)
- [Brush & pen calligraphy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/brush-and-pen-calligraphy/) (characteristic)
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (characteristic)
- [All caps](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-caps/) (characteristic)
- [Wide letterspacing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/wide-letterspacing/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (defining)
- [Monochrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monochrome/) (characteristic)
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (characteristic)

### Form & shape
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (characteristic)
- [Biomorphic curves](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/biomorphic-curves/) (occasional)
- [Whiplash line](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/whiplash-line/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Paper & letterpress bite](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/paper-and-letterpress-bite/) (defining)
- [Carved line](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/carved-line/) (characteristic)

### Ornament
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (defining)
- [Ornament-free](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornament-free/) (occasional)
- [Floral & vegetal](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/floral-and-vegetal/) (occasional)
- [Borders & frames](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/borders-and-frames/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Typography only](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/typography-only/) (characteristic)
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (characteristic)
- [Pattern & repeat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pattern-and-repeat/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Letterpress](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/letterpress/) (defining)
- [Woodblock & linocut](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/woodblock-and-linocut/) (characteristic)
- [Pen, brush & ink](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pen-brush-and-ink/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Calm & contemplative](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/calm-and-contemplative/) (characteristic)
- [Utopian & idealistic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/utopian-and-idealistic/) (characteristic)
- [Luxurious & glamorous](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/luxurious-and-glamorous/) (characteristic)
- [Authoritative & institutional](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/authoritative-and-institutional/) (occasional)
- [Romantic & sensual](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/romantic-and-sensual/) (occasional)

Avoids: Dynamic asymmetry, Flush left, ragged right, Grotesque & neo-grotesque, Straight photography, Halftone & Ben-Day dots, Eclectic mixing, Ornamented display, Abundant decoration

Palette: #f2ead8, #1b1a18, #a8322a, #c9b68c, #3f5a6e

Typefaces: Behrens-Schrift (Peter Behrens, Gebr. Klingspor, 1902; semibold 1901), followed by Behrens-Antiqua and Behrens-Kursiv (1907), Ehmcke-Antiqua and Ehmcke-Kursiv (Flinsch, 1908–1910; the Antiqua is dated 1908 or 1909/10) and Ehmcke-Fraktur (D. Stempel, 1912), Weiß-Fraktur (Emil Rudolf Weiß, 1913) and Weiß-Antiqua (Bauersche Gießerei, 1928), Walter Tiemann's faces, mostly cast by Gebr. Klingspor: Tiemann-Mediäval, Tiemann-Fraktur, Tiemann-Antiqua, Orpheus and Daphnis, Bremer Presse private types, designed by Willy Wiegand, cut by Louis Hoell and cast by the Bauersche Gießerei for hand setting: a roman after the incunabula of Adolf Rusch and Johann von Speyer, a Fraktur for the Luther Bible (1926) and a Greek for the Iliad, Rudolf Koch's Bibel-Gotisch, designed from 1924 for his Four Gospels (1926) and released by Gebr. Klingspor as Jessen (1930), Hamlet Fraktur (Edward Johnston, a black letter commissioned by Kessler in 1912 after Fust and Schoeffer's Mainz Psalter of 1457, though another account names the Durandus and Subiaco types, and cut by Edward Prince; first used in the Cranach-Presse Hamlet, 1929), Anna Simons' drawn titles and initials, in the broad-pen tradition of her teacher Edward Johnston

Known for: Pan (Berlin, 1895–1900), edited by Otto Julius Bierbaum and Julius Meier-Graefe for the PAN cooperative: five volumes, 21 issues and 225 art supplements, with Peter Behrens' woodcut 'Der Kuss' (1898); Ernst-Ludwig-Presse, Darmstadt (1907), founded by Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig and run by Friedrich Wilhelm Kleukens, a co-founder of the Steglitzer Werkstatt (1900), with his brother Christian Heinrich: its first book, Das Buch Esther in Luther's translation (Insel Verlag, 1908), has title pictures and initials by the brothers; up to 1914 F. W. Kleukens drew all the press's titles, initials, types and illustrations, mostly for editions of 100 to 150 copies, and it never gave up illustration and book decoration altogether; Heinrich Vogeler, An den Frühling (Insel Verlag with Schuster & Loeffler, 1899), ten etchings with a woodcut title (Met 2018.90.1–.10); Vogeler designed the magazine Die Insel (1899–1902) and its publisher's books, with vignettes, borders and bindings; Marcus Behmer, illustrations for Oscar Wilde's Salome (Insel Verlag, 1903; Met 1972.602), in a line first shaped by Aubrey Beardsley; Janus-Presse, Leipzig (1907–1923), Carl Ernst Poeschel and Walter Tiemann, called the first German private press (DNB): its first book, Goethe's Römische Elegien, is counted the first artistic book in a purely typographic style; in all it printed five books, in Behrens', Tiemann's and Weiß's types among others; Bremer Presse (Bremen 1911, Munich from 1920), Willy Wiegand and Ludwig Wolde: Hofmannsthal, Die Wege und die Begegnungen (1913), Dante, La Divina Comedia (1921), Homer (1923–24) and the Luther Bible (1926–29); after the First World War its titles and initials were drawn by Anna Simons and cut in boxwood by Josef Lehnacker, the press's only ornament; Cranach-Presse, Weimar (Harry Graf Kessler, 1913–1931): Virgil's Eclogues with woodcuts by Aristide Maillol (1926; Met 28.12), and Hamlet in Gerhart Hauptmann's translation (1929; English edition 1930), printed in red and black in Edward Johnston's Hamlet Fraktur, with woodcuts after Edward Gordon Craig and title capitals cut by Eric Gill; Rupprecht-Presse, Munich (F. H. Ehmcke, 1913–1934): 57 prints, set in Ehmcke's own types without decorative additions and issued in patterned-paper boards

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Arts & Crafts Movement](https://stylogeny.com/styles/arts-and-crafts.md) (1860–1920)
- Influenced by: [Art Nouveau](https://stylogeny.com/styles/art-nouveau.md) (1890–1910)
- Influenced by: [Renaissance Book Typography](https://stylogeny.com/styles/renaissance-book.md) (c. 1460–1600)
- Influenced by: [Gothic Blackletter & Fraktur Tradition](https://stylogeny.com/styles/blackletter-fraktur.md) (c. 1180–present)
- Alike in its design choices: [Emblem Book (Motto, Picture & Epigram)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/emblem-book.md) (1531–1724), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Song–Ming Woodblock Book Typography (Songti / Mincho)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/song-ming-book-typography.md) (c. 960–present), 61% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Neoclassical Book Typography](https://stylogeny.com/styles/neoclassical-typography.md) (1757–1830), 61% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Literatura de Cordel Woodcut](https://stylogeny.com/styles/cordel-woodcut.md) (1940–present), 61% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Bulaq (Amiriyya) Naskh Book Printing](https://stylogeny.com/styles/bulaq-naskh-printing.md) (1822–1956), 60% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Maghrebi Script (Maghribi Calligraphy of al-Andalus and North Africa)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/maghrebi-script.md) (c. 900–present), 58% alike

## Sources

- Wikipedia (de): Buchkunstbewegung: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchkunstbewegung
- Wikipedia (de): Bremer Presse: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremer_Presse
- Wikipedia (de): Cranach-Presse: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranach-Presse
- Wikipedia (de): Fritz Helmuth Ehmcke; Peter Behrens; Emil Rudolf Weiß; Walter Tiemann; Anna Simons; Marcus Behmer; Heinrich Vogeler; Insel-Bücherei
- Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum, virtual exhibition 'The Aesthetics of the Book': Book Art Movement: https://mediengeschichte.dnb.de/DBSMZBN/Content/EN/TheAestheticsOfTheBook/09-buchkunstbewegung-en.html
- Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, DBSM: William Shakespeare, Hamlet (Cranach-Presse, 1929): https://mediengeschichte.dnb.de/DBSMZBN/Content/EN/TheAestheticsOfTheBook/09-william-shakespeare-hamlet-en.html
- Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, DBSM: Harry Graf Kessler: https://mediengeschichte.dnb.de/DBSMZBN/Content/EN/TheAestheticsOfTheBook/09-kessler-harry-graf-en.html; Carl Ernst Poeschel: https://mediengeschichte.dnb.de/DBSMZBN/Content/EN/TheAestheticsOfTheBook/09-poeschel-carl-ernst-en.html; Walter Tiemann: https://mediengeschichte.dnb.de/DBSMZBN/Content/EN/TheAestheticsOfTheBook/09-tiemann-walter-en.html
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Die Eclogen Vergilis (Cranach Presse, Maillol, 1926), 28.12: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/358429
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oscar Wilde, Salome (Insel Verlag, Marcus Behmer, 1903), 1972.602: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/350377
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heinrich Vogeler, An den Frühling (1899), 2018.90.1–.10: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/773109
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Edward Gordon Craig, proofs for the Cranach Press Hamlet, 53.648.13: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/708504
- Grolier Club Exhibitions, Anna Simons, Titel und Initialen für die Bremer Presse (1926): https://grolierclub.omeka.net/items/show/2720
- Heidelberg University Library, PAN (Berlin, 1895–1900), digitised: https://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/fr/helios/fachinfo/www/kunst/digilit/artjournals/pan.html
- University of Iowa Special Collections, Exploring the legacy of PAN (2024): https://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/speccoll/2024/06/03/exploring-the-legacy-of-pan-a-jewel-in-the-crown-of-german-art-nouveau/
- Wikipedia (de): Friedrich Wilhelm Kleukens (Steglitzer Werkstatt, Ernst-Ludwig-Presse, Das Buch Esther 1908): https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Wilhelm_Kleukens
- Wikipedia (de): Gebr. Klingspor: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gebr._Klingspor
- Wikipedia (de): Harry Graf Kessler (exile from 1933): https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Graf_Kessler
- Luc Devroye, Rudolf Koch (Bibel-Gotisch / Jessen, The Four Gospels, Klingspor press 1926): https://luc.devroye.org/fonts-24807.html
- Fonts In Use, Jessen-Schrift (Koch Bibel Gotisch, first used in Die Vier Evangelien, 1926; Klingspor 1930): https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/21723/jessen-schrift
- Maggs Bros., Shakespeare, Hamlet (Cranach Press, 1930): type commissioned from Johnston in 1912 after the Mainz Psalter of 1457: https://store.maggs.com/products/tragedie-hamlet-prince-denmarke-8bkv7brm
- Luc Devroye, Edward Johnston (Hamlet-Type 1912–27, cut by Edward Prince; Durandus and Subiaco models): https://luc.devroye.org/fonts-27451.html

---

From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “German Book Art Movement (Buchkunstbewegung)”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/buchkunstbewegung/