The company story, as described by the H. Berthold AG itself

On 1st July 1858 in BerIin, Hermann Berthold founded his Institute for Galvanization Technology.

Within a very short time he had marketed hand-composition rules produced from hardened brass. These were produced to exceptionally fine tolerances, and were far better able to withstand the physical forces of letterpress printing than the metal rules in general use at that time, which were made from lead and zinc. This breakthrough brought wide international acclaim to Berthold’s Institute. The company slogan at that time was “As precise as Berthold Brass”; this became the synonym for the highest quality and exceptional precision which has always been, and always will be, the foundation of Berthold’s philosophy as it relates to equipment, typefaces, and the typeset result.

In the meantime, Berthold was rapidly becoming known as the master of precision in the German printing industry. In 1878, the leading German typefoundries commissioned him to devise a scheme to reform the then inaccurate – and illogical –didot point system, with a logical reference to the metric system of measurement. Hermann Berthold?s recommendation was to standardise 2660 didot points to the metre, at 0° R.*

Through this assignment, Hermann Berthold received further international acclaim, this time in the field of standardisation: most countries had widely differing standards for type and rule measurement, but as a result of Berthold’s new system, most countries in continental Europe soon adopted the didot system.

Through the acquisition of a Berlin typefoundry in 1893, the Berthold company was able to expand its product line. This was the first step which rapidly led to Berthold becoming the largest typefoundry in the world. Further typefoundries were acquired, culminating in the establishment of branches in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Riga, Budapest, Vienna, Leipzig and Stuttgart. This success was the result of a company policy which – to this day – accentuates the highest standards of quality and efficiency.

During the Great Depression this expansion came to an abrupt and premature halt. World War II finally severed all these international connections with the branches. In addition, the Berlin headquarters themselves were badly damaged during fighting at the end of the war. Immediately afterwards reconstruction of the headquarters began, and in a surprisingly short time the company was again producing foundry type, poster type and brass rule.

Technical development was, as usual, taking place simultaneously with production, and systematic analysis was – and is to this day – an essential component of Berthold’s development policies. From the beginning of the fifties, Berthold had rccognized, and been part of, the growing interest in photographic typesetting technology. Research and development took place right through the decade, and led to the announcement of the phototypesetting machine “diatype” at the Drupa exhibition in Düsseldorf in the spring of 1962. It is now possible to realise that this was a critical change in direction; a change that would eventually transform the company completely. The positive response from the marketplace was immediate proof that the company’s foresight in taking the decision to move in the direction of phototypesetting had been both correct and timely.

The typographic development for this new technology, under the direction and management of the young Günter Gerhard Lange, was to the same exceptionally high quality standards that Berthold had applied to the design and manufacture of his metal type and rules.

By means of licensing contracts with other typefoundries, the typeface range was increased to incorporate into Berthold’s phototypesetting systems – as original but true interpretations – traditional and established metal typeface designs.

The continual increase in the Berthold typeface range, to cater for the requirements of the international market, as well as introducing additional faces for phototypography (including many exclusive new Berthold designs) is just one of the reasons why Berthold today is held in such high esteem by international professionals and those who have a love for good typographic quality.

With the more recent advent of digital techniques, we have insisted on maintaining our quality standards, while pioneering the integration of high quality text, graphics and half tone elements, so once again leading the field in new areas of typographic reproduction.