Sütterlin script

(, " script") is the last widely used form of , the historical form of German handwriting that evolved alongside German blackletter (most notably ') typefaces. Graphic artist Ludwig Sütterlin was commissioned by the Prussian Ministry of Science, Art and Culture (') to create a modern handwriting script in 1911. His handwriting scheme gradually replaced the older cursive scripts that had developed in the 16th century at the same time that letters in books had developed into Fraktur. The name ' is nowadays often used to refer to all varieties of old German handwriting, although only this specific script was taught in all German schools from 1915 to 1941.

History

The ministry had asked for "modern" handwriting scripts to be used in offices and to be taught in school. created two scripts in parallel with the two typefaces that were in use (see Antiqua–Fraktur dispute). The scripts were introduced in Prussia in 1915, and from the 1920s onwards, it began to replace the relatively similar old German handwriting () in schools. In 1935, the style officially became the only German script taught in schools.

The Nazi Party banned all "broken" blackletter typefaces in 1941, which were seen as chaotic, including , and replaced them with Latin-type letters like Antiqua. However, many German-speakers who had been brought up with that writing system continued to use it well into the postwar period.

continued to be taught in some German schools until the 1970s but no longer as the primary script.

Characteristics

The lower-case 'e' contains two vertical bars close together, in which the origin of the umlaut diacritic (¨) from a small 'e' written above the modified vowel can be seen.

Sütterlin is based on the old German handwriting, which is a handwriting form of the Blackletter scripts such as or , the German print scripts which were used during the same time.

It also had the long s (ſ), as well as several standard ligatures such as (f-f), (ſ-t), (s-t), and ß (ſ-z or ſ-s).

Because of their distinctiveness, letters can be used on the blackboard for mathematical symbols, which would use letters in print. The lower-case d in and is used in proofreading for ' ("let it be deleted").

Overview of the letters

(There are two lower case letters "s". The second one is used at the end of a syllable.)

A a

B b

C c

D d

E e

F f

G g

H h

I i

J j

K k

L l

M m

N n

O o

P p

Q q

R r

S ſ s

ß

T t

U u

V v

W w

X x

Y y

Z z

Ä ä

Ö ö

Ü ü

Examples

File:Bäckerei in Sütterlin.JPG, The text ' in script in Wismar, northern Germany.
File:ArreststubeNr1K.JPG, In Petersberg Citadel, Erfurt: ' ("lock-up room No. 1"). Notice the long s's.
File:Offizierswache1K.JPG, ' ("officers' guardroom"). Notice the round s at the end of ', since it occurs at the end of a syllable.
File:Grenadierwache1K.JPG, ', " grenadiers' guardroom"
File:Kant in Sütterlin font.png, Computer font version (text from '' What is Enlightenment?'' by Immanuel Kant)

See also

* Antiqua–Fraktur dispute
* Blackletter
* (letter ''ß'')
*
*
* handwriting

Notes

References

External links

The script at Omniglot

German language page about — with history of German cursive handwriting and Sütterlin


a lesson, with sample texts
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutterlin
Blackletter
Penmanship
Western calligraphy
German orthography