Karlgeorg Hoefer (6 February 1914 – 8 October 2000) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

calligrapher Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

and

typographer Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), an ...

. Hoefer was born in Schlesisch-Drehnow (now

Drzonów Drzonów (, german: Schlesisch Drehnow, wen, Drjenow) is a village in western Poland, in the administrative district of Świdnica, within Zielona Góra County, Lubusz Voivodeship. It lies approximately north-west of Świdnica and west of Zielon ...

) in

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

. He taught

typography Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), and ...

at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach (until 1970 "Werkkunstschule Offenbach"). He held several calligraphy workshops for calligraphic societies in Los Angeles, San Francisco,

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul,

and Washington. In 1987 he founded the Schreibwerkstatt-Klingspor Offenbach and supported the

Klingspor Museum The Klingspor-Museum is a museum in Offenbach, Germany, specializing in the art of modern book production, typography and type. It includes a collection of fine art books from Karl Klingspor, one of the owners of Klingspor Type Foundry in Offe ...

in Offenbach am Main. He designed fonts for Linotype,

Klingspor Klingspor is a Swedish surname and may refer to: * Agneta Klingspor (1946–2022), Swedish author * Alexander Klingspor (born 1977), Swedish painter and sculptor * Count Wilhelm Mauritz Klingspor (1744–1814), Swedish noble military officer * Kli ...

, and

Ludwig & Mayer Ludwig & Mayer was a German type foundry in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Many important designers worked for the Ludwig and Mayer type foundry, including Heinrich Jost, Karlgeorg Hoefer, Helmut Matheis, and most notably Jakob Erbar, whose '' Erba ...

, including the Permanent family and

Permanent Headline Permanent Headline is a bold, highly compressed sans-serif typeface in the neo-grotesque style. It was designed by Karlgeorg Hoefer for the type foundry Ludwig & Mayer in Frankfurt am Main. It was released from 1964 and later issued by a range of ...

. Today his most commonly seen font is the

FE-Schrift The or ('forgery-impeding typeface') is a sans serif typeface introduced for use on licence plates. Its monospaced letters and numbers are slightly disproportionate to prevent easy modification and to improve machine readability. It has be ...

, the standard font for German

number plate A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British English), license plate (American English), or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identificatio ...

s. He died in Offenbach in 2000.

External links

The original Karlgeorg Hoefer SiteSchreibwerkstatt-Klingspor Offenbach
1914 births 2000 deaths People from the Province of Silesia German typographers and type designers German calligraphers {{Germany-artist-stub