Die Brücke (institute)
Encyclopedia
Die Brücke was an institute founded in Munich
, Germany
in 1911. The official name was (International institute to organise creative works Die Brücke).
and Wilhelm Erner.
It is not very clear what the institute actually did or planned to do, as historical evidence is very scarce. The following tasks were mentioned and (partially) carried out :
The archive seems to have existed, but what happened to the archives after Die Brucke went bankrupt is not known. The college never started, the journal was published and a world standard was set.
The standards were named World Standards (Weltformat) I-XVI and had the following sizes:
I : 1 x 1.41 cm
II : 1.41 x 2 cm
III : 2 x 2.83 cm
IV : 2.83 x 4 cm
V : 4 x 5.66 cm
VI : 5.66 x 8 cm
VII : 8 x 11.3 cm The standards I-VI were meant for labels, tickets, stamps, ex-libris and similar small items
VIII : 11.3 x 16 cm
IX : 16 x 22.6 cm
X : 22.6 x 32 cm The standards VIII-X were meant for small books, leaflets and similar publications
XI : 32 x 45.3 cm
XII : 45.3 x 64 cm
XIII : 64 x 90.5 cm
XIV : 90.5 x 128 cm
XV : 128 x 181 cm
XVI : 181 x 256 cm
The institute wanted to promote their new standard by having advertisements and other items being printed in their format. They thus approached influential businessmen to adopt their standard. One of these was Ludwig Roselius
, founder of the Coffee Hag company. Roselius approached the heraldic artist Otto Hupp
and together they started a large publication on German (and later foreign) arms of towns, cities and villages (known as the Coffee Hag albums
). In the Coffee Hag packages coupons were added, for which one could obtain stamps with the arms of a town or city. These stamps could be glued in the albums. The stamps were printed in Weltformat V, the albums in Weltformat IX. These standards were also mentioned on the stamps and in the books to promote the idea. The series were issued long after the Brücke was abolished, and in the second edition of the German albums the referral to the Weltformat was removed. The size of the stamps, however, remained identical in all European albums until the 1950s. The Swiss stamps wtill used the text Weltformat V until the mid 1920s.
The Brücke went bankrupt in 1913 and was abolished in 1914. The idea for a world standard was taken over by the DIN
institute in 1922 and the present A1-A6 standard paper sizes are based on the same idea as the World standards of Die Brücke.
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1911. The official name was (International institute to organise creative works Die Brücke).
Description
Die Brücke was founded by Emperor Wilhelm II. The directors were Wilhelm OstwaldWilhelm Ostwald
Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald was a Baltic German chemist. He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1909 for his work on catalysis, chemical equilibria and reaction velocities...
and Wilhelm Erner.
It is not very clear what the institute actually did or planned to do, as historical evidence is very scarce. The following tasks were mentioned and (partially) carried out :
- to make a world archive of published material, especially from journals, catalogues, advertising material etc. It is mentioned that the Music and Theater section alone contained over 1 million items.
- to be the source of information for exhibits and other activities
- to become a college of organisation and organisation management
- to publish a bi-weekly journal, Die Brückenzeitung. The journal was printed in 6-10.000 copies and distributed either freely (reference 1) or for 10 Mark/year . It was abolished when Die Brücke went bankrupt in 1913.
- to set worldstandards for published material
The archive seems to have existed, but what happened to the archives after Die Brucke went bankrupt is not known. The college never started, the journal was published and a world standard was set.
Weltformat - World Standard
One of the main tasks of Die Brücke was to make a world standard for published materials. This was a new idea at the time. The idea was very simple and was based on two rules :- the centimeter was used as the standard unit of length
- a standard size was based by doubling the previous standard
The standards were named World Standards (Weltformat) I-XVI and had the following sizes:
I : 1 x 1.41 cm
II : 1.41 x 2 cm
III : 2 x 2.83 cm
IV : 2.83 x 4 cm
V : 4 x 5.66 cm
VI : 5.66 x 8 cm
VII : 8 x 11.3 cm The standards I-VI were meant for labels, tickets, stamps, ex-libris and similar small items
VIII : 11.3 x 16 cm
IX : 16 x 22.6 cm
X : 22.6 x 32 cm The standards VIII-X were meant for small books, leaflets and similar publications
XI : 32 x 45.3 cm
XII : 45.3 x 64 cm
XIII : 64 x 90.5 cm
XIV : 90.5 x 128 cm
XV : 128 x 181 cm
XVI : 181 x 256 cm
The institute wanted to promote their new standard by having advertisements and other items being printed in their format. They thus approached influential businessmen to adopt their standard. One of these was Ludwig Roselius
Ludwig Roselius
Ludwig Roselius was a German coffee merchant and founder of the company KAFFEE HAG. He was born in Bremen and is credited with the development of commercial decaffeination of coffee...
, founder of the Coffee Hag company. Roselius approached the heraldic artist Otto Hupp
Otto Hupp
Otto Hupp was a German graphical artist. His main working area was heraldry, yet he also worked as a typeface designer, creating commercial symbols and metal works....
and together they started a large publication on German (and later foreign) arms of towns, cities and villages (known as the Coffee Hag albums
Coffee Hag albums
The Coffee Hag albums were published in the early 20th century by the Kaffee Handelsgesellschaft AG in Bremen, Germany, starting with heraldic stamps and collector's albums....
). In the Coffee Hag packages coupons were added, for which one could obtain stamps with the arms of a town or city. These stamps could be glued in the albums. The stamps were printed in Weltformat V, the albums in Weltformat IX. These standards were also mentioned on the stamps and in the books to promote the idea. The series were issued long after the Brücke was abolished, and in the second edition of the German albums the referral to the Weltformat was removed. The size of the stamps, however, remained identical in all European albums until the 1950s. The Swiss stamps wtill used the text Weltformat V until the mid 1920s.
The Brücke went bankrupt in 1913 and was abolished in 1914. The idea for a world standard was taken over by the DIN
Din
DIN or Din or din can have several meanings:* A din is a loud noise.* Dīn, an Arabic term meaning "religion" or "way of life".* Din is one of the ten aspects of the Ein Sof in Kabbalah ....
institute in 1922 and the present A1-A6 standard paper sizes are based on the same idea as the World standards of Die Brücke.