Originally cut by Wagner & Schmidt and cast as
Kristall-Grotesk by Norddeutsche Schriftgießerei in
1936–38 and later by Johannes Wagner. Versions of the same design
were released by other foundries as Polar-Grotesk (J.
John, 1930–37, registered at VdS in Nov. 1930, proofs sent in June
1931), Rund-Grotesk (C.E. Weber, 1931–39), Saxo
grotesk (Berling), Predilecta (Iranzo,
1935, credited to A. Saurí Sirés) [Reichardt], and Universal
Grotesk (Státny tiskárna/Grafotechna, 1935?).
Not all versions are identical in regard to the style range and
the design of some glyphs (e.g. there are both cuts with single and
double-storey ‘a’). Kristall-Grotesk has alternates
for ‘AÄMNVW’, with
pointed and flat apexes.
Digitally revived by Elsner+Flake as Kristall
Grotesk More…
Originally cut by Wagner & Schmidt and cast as Kristall-Grotesk by Norddeutsche Schriftgießerei in 1936–38 and later by Johannes Wagner. Versions of the same design were released by other foundries as Polar-Grotesk (J. John, 1930–37, registered at VdS in Nov. 1930, proofs sent in June 1931), Rund-Grotesk (C.E. Weber, 1931–39), Saxo grotesk (Berling), Predilecta (Iranzo, 1935, credited to A. Saurí Sirés) [Reichardt], and Universal Grotesk (Státny tiskárna/Grafotechna, 1935?).
Not all versions are identical in regard to the style range and the design of some glyphs (e.g. there are both cuts with single and double-storey ‘a’). Kristall-Grotesk has alternates for ‘AÄMNVW’, with pointed and flat apexes.
Digitally revived by Elsner+Flake as Kristall Grotesk (2009) and extended as Kristall Now (2010). While the former spans the 7 original styles incl. the caps-only lichtfett, latter comes in 7 weights in regular and condensed widths. The regular wide styles have italics. All upright styles but the bold ones come with small caps. See also Uni Grotesk (Typotheque, 2016), an adaptation of Universal Grotesk.
