In an attempt to erase all visual expressions deemed to contradict German values, the NSDAP imprisoned the typographer and designer Jan Tschichold. His story is part of our shared heritage.

Jan Tschichold is one of our most famous and influential typographers and designers. He worked in Germany during World War II, and his life was deeply shaped by Nazism.

In 1925, Tschichold taught design and typography in Munich. Influenced by Russian Constructivism and the Bauhaus movement, he advocated for design free from the "decorative excess" that came from the Art Nouveau aesthetic. This was the complete opposite of the NSDAP's vision, which sought to erase "foreign" influences in favor of restoring Germanic traditions. As a result, Tschichold was seen as a threat to the German heritage.

In 1933, ten days after the NSDAP took power, Tschichold and his wife, Edith, were arrested. During the arrest, Soviet posters were found in their apartment, and he was suspected of collaborating with communists. To ”protect the German people,” the Gestapo confiscated all copies of his books. Years later, the letter that led to his arrest was discovered. It stated that his use of exclusively lowercase letters and his illustration techniques were ”a subversive tendency incompatible with the nationalist state's effort [to maintain the German typographic and cultural heritage].” Thanks to Tschichold's acquaintance with one of the officers who had arrested him, he managed to obtain a passport and flee to Switzerland, where he spent most of his life.

Jan Tschichold’s most famous typeface is the classic Sabon, designed in 1967 as a modernized version of the Garamond typeface. It is a soft, well-crafted typeface with high readability, and it was well digitized by the type foundry Linotype in 2012 as Sabon Next.

In all aspects of life, we are influenced by our shared history, both in large and small ways. The story of Jan Tschichold is an integral part of the narrative of the Living History Forum, highlighting the ways in which our shared history shapes both our identities and our design choices. By incorporating elements of this history into the visual expression, we reinforce the commitment to preserving and communicating the values of democracy, tolerance, and human rights.