The Humbrechthof, also known as Hof zum Humbrecht, was the building in which

Johannes Gutenberg Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (; – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and craftsman who introduced letterpress printing to Europe with his movable-type printing press. Though not the first of its kind, earlier designs ...

developed his technique of printing with movable metal type and set up his first printing press. It was located in the old town of Mainz. Today, the houses at Schusterstraße 22 and 24 are located on the site.

History

According to

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Mainz ...

chronicles, Gutenberg and

Johann Fust Johann Fust or Faust (c. 1400 – October 30, 1466) was an early German printer. Family background Fust was born to burgher family of Mainz, traceable back to the early thirteenth century. Members of the family held many civil and relig ...

set up their print shop in the Humbrechthof around 1450, where, among other things, the 42-line

Gutenberg Bible The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42) was the earliest major book printed using mass-produced movable metal type in Europe. It marked the start of the " Gutenberg Revolution" and the age of printed ...

was produced. In 1455, after losing a legal dispute with Fust over the repayment of a loan, Gutenberg returned to his father's house, where he continued his printing business. Around 1470/71,

Peter Schöffer Peter Schöffer or Petrus Schoeffer (c. 1425 – c. 1503) was an early German printer, who studied in Paris and worked as a manuscript copyist in 1451 before apprenticing with Johannes Gutenberg and joining Johann Fust, a goldsmith, lawyer, and m ...

, a calligrapher, the principal workman of Johannes Gutenberg and later Fust's son-in-law, acquired the Hof zum Humbrecht, which was later called the Schöfferhof. From 1489 until his death in 1503, Peter Schöffer was a judge in Mainz. With his wife Christina Fust, Peter Schöffer had four sons, Johann of whom took over his father's Mainz workshop. The building served as a printing house from 1481 and housed Schöffer's workshop at that time.Gutenberg in Mainz, places of activity and memorial
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Present age

Today, only the staircase tower from 1584 remains of the printing house. A plaque is attached to the staircase tower. Its inscription ''(translated)'':

Hof zum Humbrecht Printing house of Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer of Gernsheim in which the first perfect printing work appeared in 1457 later the printing house of Johann and Ivo Schöffer until 1553. Joseph Diefenbach dedicates this memorial stone to the perfecters and propagators of the art of letterpress printing. August 14, 1825.

References

Buildings and structures in Mainz {{RhinelandPalatinate-geo-stub