Rudolf Koch – born 20.11.1876 in Nuremberg, Germany, died 9.4.1934 in Offenbach, Germany – type designer, typographer, calligrapher, teacher.
1892-96: trains as an engraver in Hanau. 1896-97: trains as an art teacher at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Nuremberg and at the Technische Hochschule in Munich.
1911-24: publishes the "Rudolfinische Drucke" with Rudolf Gerstung. 1921: founds the Offenbacher Werkgemeinschaft at the Technische Lehranstalt Offenbach. 1930: is awarded a honorary doctorate by the faculty of Evangelical theology at the University of Munich. 1934: Koch’s work is caried on by his son Paul (died 1943) who runs a workshop in Frankfurt.
Fonts: Deutsche Schrift (1906-21), Maximilian Antiqua (1913-17), Frühling (1913-17),
Wilhelm-Klingspor-Schrift™ (1920-26),
Koch® Antiqua (1922), Deutsche Zierschrift (1921),
Neuland® (1922-23), Deutsche Anzeigenschrift (1923-34) Peter-Jessen-Schrift (1924-30), Wallau (1925-34),
Kabel® (1927), Offenbach (1928), Zeppelin (1929), Marathon (1930-38), Claudius (1931-34), Prisma (1931), Holla (1932), Grotesk-Initialien (1933), Koch Kurrent (1933), Neufraktur (1933-34).
Publications include: "Die Schriftgießerei im Schattenbild", Offenbach 1918; "Das Schreiben als Kunstfertigkeit", Leipzig 1921; "Das ABC-Büchlein", Leipzig 1934; "Das Schreibbüchlein", Kassel 1939. Georg Haupt "Rudolf Koch der Schreiber", Leipzig 1936; Wilhelm H. Lange "Rudolf Koch, ein deutscher Schreibmeister", Berlin, Leipzig 1938; Oskar Beyer "Rudolf Koch. Mensch, Schriftgestalter und Erneuerer des Handwerks", Berlin 1949.
* TYPOGRAPHY – An Encyclopedic Survey of Type Design and Techniques Throughout History by Friedrich Friedl, Nicolaus Ott (Editor), Bernard Stein, published by Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH.
