Plakatstil (German for "poster style"), was an early style of poster art that originated in Germany in the 1900s. It was started by Lucian Bernhard of Berlin in 1906. The common characteristics of this style are bold eye-catching lettering with flat colors. Shapes and objects are simplified, and the composition focuses on a central object; usually a product that is being sold. ''Plakatstil'' turned away from the complexity of Art Nouveau and propagated a more modern outlook on poster art. Famous ''Plakatstil'' artists include Ludwig Hohlwein, Edmund Edel, , Hans Lindenstadt, Julius Klinger, Julius Gipkens, , and Hans Rudi Erdt. A later master of the Sachplakat was Otto Baumberger. Sachplakat on the other hand is the object posters emphasizing shapes over textual descriptions. ''Plakatstil'' and ''Sachplakat'' are both early 20th-century German poster styles, but they have distinct approaches to visual communication. Plakatstil, or "poster style," emerged around 1905, pioneered by artists like Lucian Bernhard. This style focuses on extreme simplicity, using flat, high-contrast colors, bold typography, and minimal detail. The subject is often a central product or brand name, making the message immediately clear and memorable with very little text or background. By contrast, ''Sachplakat'', or "object poster," also emphasizes simplicity but in a more realistic and literal way. Artists of the Sachplakat movement, like Ludwig Hohlwein, focused on depicting the advertised product in a realistic, straightforward manner, often as a standalone object with little to no added embellishment. Both styles aim to communicate quickly and effectively, but while Plakatstil emphasizes bold, abstract reduction, Sachplakat leans toward realistic, almost photographic representation of products. '' Das Plakat'' was a German art magazine that was published from 1910 to 1921 by the Verein der Plakatfreunde ("association of friends of the poster"), founded in 1905 and later edited by the Berlin dentist

Hans Sachs Hans Sachs (5 November 1494 – 19 January 1576) was a German ''Meistersinger'' ("mastersinger"), poetry, poet, playwright, and shoemaking, shoemaker. Biography Hans Sachs was born in Nuremberg (). As a child he attended a singing school that w ...

. Lucian Bernhard was a director of the association.

Gallery

File:Edel Secessionsbühne 1900.jpg, Edmund Edel, theatre poster for ''Komödie der Liebe'' by

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

File:Julius Klinger Möhring Kronleuchter 1908.jpg, Julius Klinger: Möhring candelabra factory, 1908 File:Hans Rudi Erdt - Manoli - 1911.jpg, Hans Rudi Erdt, ''Manoli'', 1911 File:Das Plakat Sonderheft Der Film 1920 Titel.jpg, ''Das Plakat'' special issue on The Movie, October 1920; cover by

Paul Leni Paul Leni (born Paul Josef Levi, 8 July 1885 – 2 September 1929) was a German filmmaker and a key figure in German Expressionism (cinema), German Expressionism, making ''Hintertreppe'' (1921) and ''Waxworks (film), Waxworks'' (1924) in German ...

References

External links

Images from Das PlakatDas Plakat Magazine can be viewed online at the website of the IADDB.ORG
Modern art German art {{art-movement-stub