We’re talking about Fraktur, a style of "blackletter" typeface that originated in the early 16th century in Germany. It is characterised by ornate, broken strokes and sharp, angular forms … giving it a highly decorative appearance. Unlike more fluid cursive scripts, Fraktur features distinct, separate strokes that break and angle sharply, which is where it gets its name – “fraktur" coming from the Latin fractura meaning "to break”.

The raison d'être for blackletter was initially pragmatic. It was easier for monks using quills to scribe consistent-looking Os, Us and Cs using a series of short straight lines, and it’s this technique that gave the letters their distinctive fragmented appearance.

Fraktur became popular during the Renaissance and was widely used for German texts. For centuries, it was a standard typeface in German-speaking regions, representing a sense of national identity.

By the end of the 16th century, more legible Roman fonts had become common in the typed vernacular languages of France and Spain. England followed suit in the 17th century, then the Netherlands and Sweden in the 18th. But even as Roman became the western world’s dominant form of writing, Germany and the German language stayed resolutely committed to blackletter, mostly thanks to Martin Luther. Luther was a prolific writer of the German language and wanted to distinguish German writing from the Catholic writing coming out of Italy, so he made sure all his texts were printed in blackletter.

Fraktur’s connection with nationalism only got stronger in the 19th century when Germany was invaded by Napoleon. The occupying French had their Roman letters, and the Germans had Fraktur.

By the 20th century, however, its use diminished due to associations with Nazi Germany, which initially promoted Fraktur as part of German heritage but later banned it, deeming it outdated and "un-German”. (Ironically, Hitler didn’t particularly like Fraktur, as he didn’t think that being German should mean being old-fashioned and provincial.)

While rarely used in body text, Fraktur is often used in logos, signage, and designs that evoke a historical or old-timey gothic feel. It’s a typeface that you often see used for the bold front titles of newspapers like The New York Times or The Washington Post … or maybe on the T-shirts of heavy metal bands.

But for many people, especially in Europe, blackletter is still used to signal German nationalism, and is most closely associated with one particular version of nationalism, which is why it is often referred to as the “Nazi Font”.

As reported in an 99% Invisible episode about Fraktur:

“When Peter Dörfell, a bus rider in Dresden, saw a sign that read: “This bus is driven by a German driver,” it was printed in blackletter. People like Peter knew exactly what it was meant to communicate. In fact, the sight of the sign and of the typeface was so alarming, there was no way he would just let it go. Peter snapped a photo and posted it to Twitter at the Dresden Public Transit Authority. A little while later, a journalist got in touch with him, and soon the story became big news.”

Which is why it was notable (to say the least) that the “Make America Great Again” hat that Elon Musk wore to Donald Trump’s political rally at Madison Square Garden (MSG) on 27 October 2024 was all black, and with the MAGA lettering (unusually) rendered in the Fraktur font. Especially relevant since the Garden had famously been the venue for a US Nazi Party rally in 1939. Too much of a shit-stir to be a coincidence?

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References

wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraktur
99percentinvisible.org/episode/fraktur

Images

1. Fraktur, a style of "blackletter" typeface
2. Fraktur letter "o" comprised of 3 straight strokes
3. Front page of Gustav Vasa's Bible from 1541, printed using Fraktur
4. Mein Kampf by Adolph Hitler
5. Nazi propaganda samples using Fraktur
6. Roman lettering on the Pantheon
7. Bus sign in Dresden in Fraktur says: "This bus is driven by a German driver"
8. 1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden
9. The New York Times front page from Tuesday 29 October 2024
10. Elon Musk at Donald Trump’s political rally at Madison Square Garden on 27 October 2024
11. Fraktur MAGA