How it ended and what came next

In 1941, a political decree ended the use of blackletter as the default type style for German text. With the end of World War II in 1945, a new era began for Germany. Blackletter typefaces released in the preceding decades remained in use for some time, including the simplified textura designs. They were still easily readable and were simply one of many available choices. At the time, they were also not regarded as political symbols of Nazi Germany, as some might claim today. However, there was no longer any demand to maintain active development of this type category. Foundries focused on serif and sans-serif designs, dropping blackletter fonts from their catalogues one after another. When the time came to convert foundry designs to phototypesetting systems, the simplified textura and other blacketter designs were left behind.

Today, new developments in this field often come from outside Germany. Blaktur, Fakir, and FF Brokenscript are just a few examples. Within Germany, blackletter fonts have increasingly been perceived as political symbols, leading to the category’s gradual avoidance. Whether or not this perception is justified is discussed in the following video.