The Meisterschule für Deutschlands Buchdrucker (Master School for German Book Printers) was a Munich institution for typography and printing education, founded in 1927 under the direction of type designer Paul Renner. The school operated under this name until 1956, when it was upgraded to an academy and later renamed the Akademie für das graphische Gewerbe. It is one of the predecessor institutions of today’s Hochschule München (Munich University of Applied Sciences).
Design and History
The most well-documented visual identity associated with the school is a letterhead designed by Jan Tschichold in 1929, held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Tschichold, a leading figure of the “New Typography” movement, taught at the school beginning in 1930. The letterhead was produced using letterpress printing and measures 11 5/8 × 8 1/4 inches (29.5 × 21 cm). MoMA identifies the work as “Meisterschule für Deutschlands Buchdrucker (Master School for German book printers) letterhead” from 1929.[1]
The school’s founding in 1927 is documented by the Hochschule München’s official history, which notes that Paul Renner, creator of the Futura typeface, was one of the initiators and served as director from 1927 to 1933. The same source records that Eduard Ege, who joined the school in 1927, designed a modern city coat of arms for Munich that was adopted for official stamps in 1932.[2]
In 1956, the Städtische Meisterschule für Deutschlands Buchdrucker was upgraded to academy status. Herbert Post served as director of the Akademie für das graphische Gewerbe from 1955 to 1968, and the school was elevated to a Höhere Technische Lehranstalt in 1962.[2]
Meaning and Symbolism
No official documentation has been found describing the symbolism or design intent of a specific school emblem or logo. The German National Library catalog lists a stamp for the Meisterschule für Deutschlands Buchdrucker from the period 1926–1933, but the visual content of this stamp is not described in the available record.[3]
Claims that Hermann Virl created a logo for the school in the 1960s are not supported by available evidence. Virl, a graphic artist who lived from 1903 to 1958, taught at the Meisterschule from 1931 to 1945, according to the Bibliothèque nationale de France. He died in 1958, before the 1960s, and no source connects him to a school logo.[4]
Typography and Design
The school’s connection to typography is well documented through its leadership. Paul Renner designed the Futura typeface in the mid-1920s, and the Hochschule München history notes that the school’s curriculum emphasized typography, typesetting, and printing technology, with practical instruction given directly at printing presses.[2]
Jan Tschichold, who designed the 1929 letterhead, was a teacher at the school and “contributed significantly to the development and dissemination of the New Typography,” according to the Hochschule München history. He was forced to emigrate after the Nazi takeover.[2]
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