Albert Kapr

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Albert Kapr (born July 20, 1918 in Stuttgart ; † March 31, 1995 in Leipzig ) was a type designer, calligrapher , typographer , university professor, rector and specialist author. As a professor of type and book design at the University of Graphic and Book Art in Leipzig , he played a key role in the development of the GDR's type and book art.

education

Albert Kapr attended the general school in Stuttgart. In 1933 he began an apprenticeship as a typesetter at the Deutsche Verlagsanstalt Stuttgart. During this time he was a member of a left-wing hiking group. After the prohibition of such organizations, the confiscation of their assets and the liquidation of their meeting places by the Nazi state in 1934, the group, which in the meantime called itself Group G. (G = community), developed more and more anti-fascist traits and ways of thinking. They publicly expressed their opposition to the ruling system in various activities. They organized several leaflet campaigns in the Stuttgart area. When the leader of the group Fritz Brütsch (1915–1953) was arrested in December 1934, they wanted to show that they are still unbroken. Therefore, on March 13, 1935, the member of Group G. put the slogans “Hitler = War” and “Red Front” in red on the base of the Rossbändiger statue in Stuttgart. He was arrested an hour later and a house search revealed photographic documents of the entire group. About 20 members, including Albert Kapr, were arrested. Because of his collaboration in the production and printing of illegal leaflets of the young communist resistance group G around Fritz Brütsch and Hans Gasparitsch , they were tried on March 25, 1936. In March 1936 he was sentenced to one year in prison for “aiding and abetting preparation for high treason”. After his release from prison in 1938 he began studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart. Kapr did military service from 1939 to 1945. He then continued his studies from 1945 to 1948 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart with FH Ernst Schneidler . He then became a master student and assistant for writing at the Technical University of Stuttgart .

Activity at universities

Teaching and positions

In 1948 Kapr was appointed to the Weimar University of Architecture and Fine Arts (since 1996 Bauhaus University Weimar ). From 1951 he was a professor for type and book design at the University of Graphic and Book Art in Leipzig . From 1959 to 1961 and 1966 to 1973 he held the position of rector. In 1955 he initiated the establishment of the Institute for Book Design at the university and headed it from 1955 to 1978. Albert Kapr was promoted to Dr. phil. PhD at the University of Leipzig. Kapr was also a visiting professor in Beijing in the 1980s. In 1983 he retired.

Improvement of the print offer

Even before the Second World War , typeface design enjoyed a high priority at the Leipzig University of Graphics and Book Art. The destruction of the war and the difficulties resulting from the subsequent division of Germany had a particularly drastic effect on the printing industry in East Germany . This made the design and production of new typesetting urgently necessary. With the hiring of the retired stamp cutter Otto Erler and in close cooperation with the Typoart Dresden company , he created the prerequisites for a “type laboratory” for designing typesetting from draft to ready-to-type. From 1963 to 1977 Kapr was the artistic director of the type foundry VEB Typoart Dresden. In 1958/59 the first GDR competition for new work fonts took place. The aim of the international competition that followed in 1971 was to create typesetting that could be designed using manual typesetting and the monotype and linotype systems. In 1985, Typoart organized a GDR competition to develop new commercial fonts.

Teaching and promoting young talent

As a student of Ernst Schneidler, Kapr had adopted a lot from his teaching, "filtered" through his own experience and practice. He promoted the individual students individually: previous education, inclinations, professional goals were wide-ranging. Font, typography and book design were the focus. There were also students who, in addition to basic lessons, developed an interest in, and even enthusiasm for, the development of typesetting in a special study of script. While writing, the student trained his eyes and hands. It was never about constructing, mere copying or additive joining of molded parts, but about grasping the specifics of a script, which the student should express through his will to form. Important typeface designers such as Hildegard Korger (born 1935), Volker Küster (born 1941), Heinz Schumann (born 1934), Gert Wunderlich (born 1934) and Yu Bingnan (Beijing) emerged from his school , who in turn came out again have worked as university lecturers and carried on the legacy.

Initiatives to improve the general writing culture, especially school writing

As early as the 1970s, Kapr registered, internationally, but especially in Germany, approaches of a far-reaching ignorance of the formal-aesthetic appearance of the font and thus a grandiose loss of value. He considered writing, beyond its purely communicative function, to be one of the most valuable cultural assets of humanity. Many of Kapr's activities were based on the hope of containing this development or even of being able to change it for a better. A step in this direction was therefore also his initiatives to change the GDR's original school font. Inspired by the meeting with representatives of the "Society for Italic Handwriting" (1957), a short time later he campaigned for the improvement of writing in schools at the Ministry of Popular Education. He brought u. a. related research assignments, which enabled his former student Renate Tost, in collaboration with the recognized writing didactic specialist Elisabeth Kaestner, to influence the design of the students' writing. Without his active support, even when dealing with the decision-makers in the education system of the GDR , it would not have been possible to change the original school publication in 1968.

Profiling the book design, nationally and internationally

Kapr was very committed to establishing and continuing national and international book art competitions. As a special highlight, the Leipzig International Book Art Exhibition was re-established as early as 1959 (it was held for the first time in Leipzig in 1927). Every six years it was carried out until 1989, usually under the artistic direction and also on the jury of Kapr. As a link between these book art highlights, the exhibition The Most Beautiful Books from All Over the World was held for the first time in 1963 and is still effective today. After the Second World War, the GDR's Most Beautiful Books competition took place every year from 1952 , the best results of which could be seen in an international comparison. Kapr himself designed around 200 books for renowned publishers in Leipzig, Berlin and Dresden. A highlight in his work was the large-format book Totentanz von Basel ( Verlag der Kunst , Dresden 1966, 35 x 45 cm) with forty woodcuts by HAP Grieshaber , in which Kapr's versatile skills as a typographer and handwriter are combined. The German texts he handwritten in broken script, which he had cut into wood with the help of his students, should be emphasized.

After 1968 Kapr dealt intensively with the person and history of Johannes Gutenberg . He was not only teaching and creative, but in a special way through a comprehensive scientific work. In addition to Jan Tschichold, he left behind the most important work on typography and font design in German. Some of his books have also been translated into Polish and Hungarian.

Albert Kapr died on March 31, 1995 at the age of 76 in Leipzig.

aftermath

On the occasion of his 100th birthday, the exhibition Hundred Years Albert Kapr - Book and Writing Art and the Early Stuttgart Years was shown in the Literaturhaus Stuttgart in July 2018 . The presentation Albert Kapr 100 was created at the German Museum of Books and Writing in Leipzig in cooperation with the College of Graphics and Book Art .

Awards

Realized typeface drafts

  • Faust-Antiqua and Italic, 1958–1962
  • Leipziger Antiqua, italics and semi-bold, 1959–1975
  • Neutra 1968
  • Magna Cyrillic 1975
  • Prillwitz Antiqua and Kursiv 1971–1981

Publications

  • German writing. A textbook for writers . Dresden: Verlag der Kunst, 1955.
  • Johann Neudörffer the Elder, a great master scribe of the German Renaissance . VEB Harrassowitz, Leipzig, 1956.
  • ABC - the foundation for right writing . VEB Fachbuchverlag Leipzig, 1958.
  • World Peace (Graphics) 1959.
  • Book design. A specialist book for graphic artists, typesetters, printers, bookbinders,… . VEB Verlag der Kunst, Dresden, 1963.
  • Dance of Death from Basel - with 40 color woodcuts by HAP Grieshaber, Dresden 1966.
  • Lettering art. History, Anatomy and Beauty of the Latin Letters . Dresden: Verlag der Kunst, 1971. ISBN 3-364-00624-5 .
  • typoart - type art . Albert Kapr and Hans Fischer, VEB Fachbuchverlag Leipzig, 1973.
  • 101 sentences for book design . VEB Fachbuchverlag Leipzig, 2nd edition, 1976.
  • Johannes Gutenberg. Facts and theses . Leipzig: Insel-Verlag, 1977. Insel-Bücherei No. 1020.
  • Font aesthetics. Theses and marginalia . Leipzig: Fachbuchverlag, 1977.
  • together with Walter Schiller Shape and Function of Typography Leipzig 1977.
  • Book art of the present . VEB Fachbuchverlag Leipzig, 1979.
  • Form and function of typography . Albert Kapr and Walter Schiller , VEB Fachbuchverlag Leipzig 1980.
  • Font and book art. Essays, speeches and artistic works . VEB Fachbuchverlag Leipzig, 1982.
  • Shape and function of typography , Leipzig 1982.
  • Stations of book art . VEB Fachbuchverlag Leipzig 1985.
  • Johannes Gutenberg and the Cyprian letters of indulgence 1454/55 - Study of the history of printing without year, without place of publication
  • Johannes Gutenberg. Personality and performance . Munich, CH Beck, 1987, ISBN 3-406-31580-1 .
  • Calligraphic Expressions. About calligraphy in the GDR ... [Ed.]. VEB Fachbuchverlag Leipzig, 1988, ISBN 3-343-00461-8 .
  • Photo typesetting: type design and type production Leipzig . together with Detlef Schäfer. VEB Fachbuchverlag Leipzig 1989, ISBN 3-343-00525-8 ; Licensed edition Itzehoe Verl. Beruf + Schule 1989, ISBN 3-88013-417-0 .
  • Traditions Leipziger Buchkunst [Ed.]. VEB Fachbuchverlag Leipzig, 1989, ISBN 3-343-00475-8 .
  • Johannes Gutenberg and the wine. History of the book industry and printing . Gutenberg Book Guild, Frankfurt 1991.
  • Gutenberg and Eltville . Lecture on March 17, 1991 in the Electoral Castle in Eltville am Rhein. Published by Burgverein e. V., Eltville am Rhein, 1991.
  • Fracture. Form and History of the Broken Scriptures . Mainz: Verlag Hermann Schmidt, 1993. ISBN 3-87439-260-0 .

estate

Kapr's estate is in the German Museum of Books and Writing in the German National Library in Leipzig .

literature

  • Bunke, Horst: Albert Kapr. Font and book artist . Deutsche Bücherei Leipzig, 1988 (New Year's edition 1989).
  • Norbert du Vinage: 40 years of Typoart - four decades of intensive efforts to create high-quality fonts . In: Paper and Printing, Leipzig 11/1988, p. 497 ff.
  • Walter Bergner: A fund of Leipzig book culture. On the history of the letter treasure of the Haag-Drugulin store. In: Leipzig yearbook on book history. 3: 257-274 (1993).
  • Marginalia. Journal for book art and bibliophilia , Lang, Lothar (ed.). Published by the Pirckheimer Society , Issue 138, 1995. therein, among others, Horst Schuster : The type and book artist Albert Kapr 1918–1995 .
  • Walter Bergner: Design and manufacture of fonts in East Germany: On the history of the Typoart company in Dresden. In: Leipzig yearbook on book history . 6 (1996), pp. 405-436.
  • Walter Bergner: Well-founded promotion of the written culture. To the efforts of the Leipzig Institute for Book Art for school writing and calligraphy. Special print from: Leipziger Jahrbuch zur Buchgeschichte. 7 (1997).
  • Thekla Kluttig: Sources on the history of printing - why it is worth looking east: State Archives Leipzig. One kilometer of documents on the printing and publishing industry . In: Journal for Printing History. New episode 15. No. 4/2009, p. 27. (PDF; 3.8 MB).
  • Julia Blume, Fred Smeijers: A Century of Writing and Writing Lessons in Leipzig . University of Graphics and Book Art Leipzig 2010, ISBN 978-3-932865-57-2 .
  • Short biography for:  Kapr, Albert . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
  • Texts optimally accessible, easy to handle and at the same time aesthetically beautiful. On the design of the MEGA (1975). With follow-up remarks by Werner Grahm and Richard Sper l. In: Contributions to Marx-Engels research. New episode 2014/15. Argument, Hamburg 2016. ISBN 978-3-86754-682-9 , pp. 239-258.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Helmut Bähring, Kurt Rüddiger: Lexicon Buchstadt Leipzig: from the beginnings to 1990. Tauchaer Verlag 2008, ISBN 978-3-89772-147-0 .
  2. Master Erler at work (graphic illustration on last page) (PDF; 3.6 MB)
  3. ^ Silvia Werfel: Typoart, Dresden. For font production in the GDR . (PDF; 190 kB)
  4. Julia Blume, Fred Smeijers: A century of writing and writing lessons in Leipzig . University of Graphics and Book Art Leipzig 2010, ISBN 978-3-932865-57-2 , p. 45.
  5. ^ Photo typesetting: Type design and type production Leipzig , together with Detlef Schäfer. VEB Fachbuchverlag Leipzig 1989, ISBN 3-343-00525-8 .
  6. ^ Association of graphic designers of the GDR and Lower Saxony Ministry for Federal and European Affairs: P40. Posters from the GDR , Berlin 1990, p. 76, ISBN 978-3-8758-5184-7 .
  7. ^ Society for Italic Handwriting
  8. In Memoriam: Alfred Fairbank . The Society for Italic Handwriting. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  9. ^ On the development of the GDR's simplified initial school publication in 1968
  10. ^ Jury “Most Beautiful Books” . deutschefotothek.de. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  11. ^ HAP Grieshaber : Totentanz von Basel . Verl. D. Art VEB, Dresden 1966, DNB  456804609 .
  12. HAP Grieshaber during the opening of the exhibition on his “Dance of Death from Basel” at the Leipzig University of Graphics and Book Art . deutschefotothek.de. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  13. Albert Kapr and his Totentanz team . deutschefotothek.de. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  14. Albert Kapr . Pirckheimer Society eV. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  15. Albert Kapr: Unruly thoughts . Ulrich Keicher Publishing House, Warmbronn 2018.
  16. ^ Peter Kühne: Albert Kapr 100 . In: Dialogue with Libraries 2018/2, pp. 54–57.
  17. Prize winners . antiquaria-preis.de. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  18. http://d-nb.info/103838012X
  19. http://d-nb.info/dnbn/1032062576