Asmus Freytag wrote:
> a true Fraktur A is not a triangle with raised base, but looks like
> a squarish U with the top part of the left leg pinched against the
> right one, preserving a narro opening between the two legs.
Not exactly so.
"Fraktur" is a collective name, comprising various typographic designs
(including several variants of letter-A topology) over 5 centuries in
print, and some more in handwriting. A good overview
can be found in
Albert Kapr & Hans Peter Willberg:
"Fraktur : Form und Geschichte der gebrochenen Schriften" (1993)
ISBN 3-87439-260-0
Gutenberg's bible (~1455), to start with, had its "A" closed on top
(but trapezoid rather than triangular), with two left legs.
Maximilian's "Theuerdank" (1517), had the triangular form in
section initials (illuminated capitals), but both forms (I think),
in the running text (I have only a small sample here, so I will
have to check at home, if anybody wants to know this detail).
> I cannot recall having seen the pinched "U" shape for the letter A
> in any of the [German newspaper names],
Cf.
<http://www.harlinger-online.de/>,
<http://www.thalwileranzeiger.ch/> (from the German-speaking part of
Switzerland),
But you are right, these are the exceptions.
Most papers (of those having fraktur in their titles) use an "A"
akin to this notorious example:
<http://www.faz.net/>
Some use other variants, such as
<http://www.giessener-anzeiger.de/>.
> which I attribute to the need for newspapers to have easily
> readable names, even if convention requires a Fraktur style font for
> their name.
The FAZ-style "A" design has been used in many fonts, e. g. Caslon's
Blackletter (London 1821), "Fette Gotisch" (Offenbach 1893);
at these times, Fraktur was common knowledge. So I guess,
the readability is not the primary reason for the prevalence
of this variant, in newspaper titles. (However, I cannot suggest
any other motive.)
Bets wishes,
Otto Stolz
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