Styles
Schmalfette Grotesk
- Bold Condensed
Schmalfette Grotesk Italic
- Bold Condensed Italic
Schmalfette Grotesk Variable
- Variable
About Schmalfette Grotesk
The original Schmalfette Grotesk was designed in 1954 by the Swiss designer Walter F. Haettenschweiler. Strongly inspired by late nineteenth-century American wood types, this typeface has since become an icon of phototypesetting, leaving a lasting impression on generations of readers and designers.
This updated version also draws on the work of Willy Fleckhaus for Twen, the magazine published in West Germany from 1959 to 1971, devoted to popular culture, fashion, photography, and glamour. It pays tribute to the magazine’s editorial design, which made bold use of Schmalfette Grotesk in capitals, with particularly careful handling of German punctuation and diacritics.
This new version stays as close as possible to the spirit of the original drawing, which existed only in uppercase, and adds a complete lowercase set. It is released with several stylistic sets: titling diacritics, below-cap diacritics, and three punctuation sets.
This update was reviewed and approved by the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich as well as by the Haettenschweiler family, as a respectful revival of Walter F. Haettenschweiler’s original Schmalfette Grotesk.
With its tight letter spacing, characteristic of the timeless aesthetic of the mid-twentieth century, Schmalfette Grotesk is ideally suited to contemporary titling and logotypes.
Details
DesignersWalter F. Haettenschweiler, 1954
(Uppercases and Numbers)
Guillaume Sbalchiero, 2017—2026
ArchiveMuseum für Gestaltung Zürich
The typographic work archive of Walter F. Haettenschweiler is available at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Grafiksammlung (Donated by the Haettenschweiler family).
Museum für Gestaltung Zürich
Toni-Areal, Pfingstweidstrasse 96
CH-8031 Zürich
+41 43 446 66 77
www.museum-gestaltung.ch
www.zhdk.ch
Technical InfoShow Information
Mastering / EngineeringAlan Madic, Rafael Ribas,
Léon Hugues
ProofreadingMuseum für Gestaltung Zürich
Publishing YearBAL Foundry, 2026
Co-PublishingDiorama Type Partners, 2023
Version2.0
File FormatsOTF, TTF, WOFF, WOFF2, Variable
Character SetLatin Extended
Language CoverageShow Languages
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