History - Bauer Types

1898

First Generation

The Beginning

Georg Hartmann

(1870 - 1954)

In 1898, Georg Hartmann acquired two type foundries that would become central to the history of modern typography: Bauersche Giesserei in Frankfurt (active from 1837 to 1972) and Fundición Tipográfica Neufville in Barcelona, Spain (1885–1995). Under his leadership, both foundries rose to international prominence through close collaboration with leading artists and typographers of the time, including E. R. Weiss¹, Lucian Bernhard², Elizabeth Friedlaender³, Heinrich Jost⁴,Imre Reiner⁵, Oldřich Menhart⁶, Ernst Schneidler⁷, and Paul Renner⁸, creator of Futura.

In 1927, Hartmann founded a New York branch, the Bauer Type Foundry, later renamed Bauer Alphabets. For more than five decades, this subsidiary introduced typefaces such as Bauer Bodoni, Weiss, Venus, Beton, and Futura to the North American market. It also benefited from local contributions by American designers Howard A. Trafton and William Gillies.

1E. R. Weiss (Erich Reiss Weiss, 1875–1942) was a German typographer, calligrapher, and designer known for his humanist and elegant approach to type design. His most celebrated creation is the Weiss typeface, designed in the 1920s for the Bauersche Giesserei. The design reflects a classical sensibility, with forms influenced by Roman and Renaissance calligraphy. In addition to his typographic work, Weiss was a distinguished illustrator and book artist, skillfully combining tradition and modernity in his work.
2Lucian Bernhard 1883–1972) was a German graphic designer, typographer, and artist, and a pioneer of modern design. He is best known for developing the Plakatstil (poster style), characterized by visual simplicity and the bold use of color and typography. He designed several typefaces for the Bauersche Giesserei, including Bernhard Antiqua, Bernhard Gothic, and Bernhard Fashion, which reflect his expressive and ornamental approach. His work laid the foundations of contemporary advertising design and had a strong influence in both Europe and the United States, where he lived from the 1920s onward.
3Elizabeth Friedländer (1903–1984) was a pioneering German designer and typographer, known as one of the few women to gain recognition in the typographic field of her time. In the 1930s, she designed the Elizabeth-Antiqua typeface for the Bauersche Giesserei, an elegant and highly legible roman type. Persecuted by the Nazi regime because of her Jewish background, she emigrated first to Italy and later to the United Kingdom, where she continued her career in editorial design and calligraphy. Her legacy combines aesthetic sensitivity with remarkable personal resilience.
4Heinrich Jost (1889–1948) was a German typographer, designer, and art director. From 1923 onwards, he led the Bauersche Giesserei, where he oversaw and promoted the creation of landmark typefaces such as Paul Renner’s Futura, Bauer Bodoni, and Weiss.
His work combined editorial vision, aesthetic sensitivity, and a strong commitment to typographic quality, contributing decisively to the international rise of the foundry during the interwar period.

5Imre Reiner (1900–1987) was a Hungarian-German typographer, illustrator, and engraver. Trained at the Bauhaus and the Kunstgewerbeschule in Stuttgart, he developed an expressive and highly personal style that fused art and typography. He designed typefaces such as Meridien, Gotika, and Reiner Script for the Bauersche Giesserei, and his work is distinguished by its gestural, calligraphic, and artistic character, standing in contrast to the more rationalist currents of his time.
6Oldrich Menhart (1897–1962) was a Czech typographer, calligrapher, and designer, known for his craft-based and expressive approach to type design. He worked for several European foundries, including the Bauersche Giesserei and the Fundición Tipográfica Neufville. Among his most notable creations are Menhart Antiqua, Menhart Kursiva, and Figural, typefaces that combine calligraphic tradition with a strong visual character. He was also a respected educator and an influential figure in the Central European typographic scene of the 20th century.
7Ernst Schneidler (1882–1956) was a German typographer, calligrapher, and educator, and a key figure in the renewal of 20th-century graphic design. Founder of the Schule für Buchdrucker in Stuttgart, he profoundly influenced generations of designers. His work combines humanist tradition with formal expressiveness. He designed typefaces such as Schneidler (also known as Legende), published by the Bauersche Giesserei, and noted for their elegance and calligraphic dynamism.
8Paul Renner (1878–1956) was born in Germany in 1878. He worked as a typographer, painter, educator, and graphic designer, creating book covers for publishers in Munich. In May 1925, he began teaching at the Frankfurt School of Fine Arts, and one year later he was appointed director of the School of Printing Trades in Munich (Münchner Gewerbeschule). His most significant contribution to type design is Futura, created for the Bauersche Giesserei between 1924 and 1927, year that was published.

Bauer Bodoni specimen spread

Designed by Heinrich Jost, circa 1926

Bauer Beton specimen cover

Designed by Heinrich Jost, 1931

Bauer Beton specimen spread

Designed by Heinrich Jost, 1931

1922

Second Generation

The Consolidation

Carlos Hartmann

(1899 - 1950)

Carlos Hartmann, Georg’s son, took over the direction of the Fundición Tipográfica Neufville in 1922. In addition to consolidating the foundry as the most important in Spain, he diversified its activities by incorporating the distribution of printing machinery from leading manufacturers such as Heidelberg, Roland, Koenig & Bauer, Krause, Hoh & Hahne, and Goebel.

At the time of his death in 1950, the company already had a solid technical and commercial structure. Following Georg Hartmann’s death in 1954, designers Konrad Bauer and Walter Baum⁹ created new typefaces such as Folio, Imprimatur, and Volta (also known as Fortune in some countries).

Folio specimen cover

Konrad Bauer & Walter Baum, 1957

Folio Specimen spread

Konrad Bauer & Walter Baum, 1957

Imprimatur Specimen

Konrad Bauer & Walter Baum, 1952

Imprimatur specimen spread

Konrad Bauer & Walter Baum, 1952

1963

Third Generation

The Challenge

Wolfgang Hartmann

In 1963, Wolfgang Hartmann, grandson of Georg and son of Carlos, took over the direction of Neufville’s type department after five years of training at the Bauersche Giesserei. During his tenure, he pursued a determined expansion strategy through the acquisition of several European type foundries:

Fundición Tipográfica Nacional¹⁰ (Spain, 1971)
Fonderie Typographique Française¹¹ (France, 1974)
Ludwig & Mayer¹² (Germany, 1985)
Les Fonderies Réunies de Caractères du Liban¹³ (1988)

In 1974, he also founded the subsidiary Neufville France, operating in France, Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.

Through this expansion, Fundición Tipográfica Neufville acquired a significant typeface catalog that would later prove essential for the digital er, a catalog that continues to grow. Typefaces such as Impressum (1963) by Konrad Bauer and Walter Baum, or Serifa (1968) by Adrian Frutiger¹⁴, further expanded its prestigious library.

Fundición Tipográfica Neufville acquired the rights to the typeface library of Bauersche Giesserei in 1972, and transferred these rights to Bauer Types, SL in 1995.

The greatest challenge came with the shift in technological paradigms. In the face of the rise of digital environments and the disappearance of metal type, Neufville—and later Bauer Types—became the only traditional European type foundry to successfully complete the transition to the digital world. It managed to keep its typographic legacy alive by adapting both its catalog and its expertise to a new technical and commercial context.

In 1998, Neufville Digital was created as a joint venture between Bauer Types S.L., a Spanish company succeeding Bauersche Giesserei and Fundición Tipográfica Neufville, and Visualogik, a Dutch-French company.

Neufville Digital benefited from Visualogik’s high professional skills in font production, ensuring great quality and reliability. Meanwhile, Bauer Types S.L. brought long-standing technical and professional experience and contributes part of its typographic catalogue, allowing the original designs to be faithfully replicated.

10The Fundición Tipográfica Nacional based in Madrid, was one of the leading Spanish type foundries of the 20th century. Founded in 1880, it played a key role in the production and distribution of metal movable type for traditional printing. The foundry supplied numerous printing houses throughout the country and remained a reference in Spanish typography until the arrival of digital technologies.
11The Fonderie Typographique Française was a French type foundry active during the 20th century, formed through the merger of several historic foundries. It played a key role in the consolidation and modernization of typography in France, disseminating both classical and modern designs. In 1974, it was absorbed by the Haas company.
12Ludwig & Mayer was a prominent German type foundry based in Frankfurt, active from 1875 to 1984. Renowned for its formal innovation and for working with leading designers, it produced influential typefaces such as Kabel by Rudolf Koch. Its catalog reflected the modern spirit of German design and achieved wide international distribution.

13The Fonderies Réunies de Caractères du Liban was an important type foundry based in Beirut, particularly active during the first half of the 20th century. Formed through the union of several local printing houses, its aim was to consolidate the production and distribution of type in the region. The foundry specialized in Arabic scripts and also distributed Latin type imported from Europe, playing a key role in the development of modern printing across Arab countries.
14Adrian Frutiger (1928–2015) was a Swiss type designer and a key figure in modern typography. Among his most notable creations are Univers, Frutiger, Avenir, and Serifa (1967), one of the first modern-style slab serif typefaces. His work marked a turning point in legibility and type design for signage, print, and digital environments.

Serifa specimen cover by Adrian Frutiger

Designed by Frutiger Atelier (Bruno Pfäffli), 1968

Serifa specimen by Adrian Frutiger

Designed by Frutiger Atelier (Bruno Pfäffli), 1968

Impressum specimen spread

Konrad Bauer & Walter Baum, 1963

2000

Fourth Generation

The future

Vivian Hartmann

In 2000, Vivian Hartmann, a fourth-generation member of the family, joined Bauer Types with the aim of developing the distribution of digital typefaces in Spain. In this role, she represented some of the most relevant international type manufacturers in the industry, including Monotype, Linotype, FontBureau, FontShop, House Industries, Paratype, and TypeTogether.

After a period devoted to teaching, in 2022 she resumed leadership of the project with a renewed vision: to position Bauer Types as a national and international reference in the distribution and digitalisation of typefaces, grounded in excellence, technical guidance, and the highest quality standards across every aspect of typographic service. This purpose is driven together with a committed and highly professional team, with whom she shares the ambition of achieving the company’s strategic goals.

Her mission is clear: to renew the typographic legacy of the Bauersche Giesserei and Neufville, and to strengthen the value of typography within society and the contemporary world.

Thanks to her deep knowledge of the field, Vivian promotes typography as a strategic tool for identity, capable of providing precise solutions to the technical, visual, and linguistic needs of brands and institutions, across both physical and digital environments.

2026

Today & Tomorrow

Currently, Bauer Types is in the process of updating its type catalogue, with new releases gradually emerging as the company’s digitalisation projects continue to evolve. If you want to know more about who we are visit our team section.

In January 2026, Neufville Digital, has been acquired by Bauer Types S.L., transferring the entire Neufville Digital catalogue into Bauer Types’ typographic library.

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Bauer Bodoni specimen spread

Bauer Bodoni specimen spread

Bauer Beton specimen cover

Bauer Beton specimen spread

Futura Specimen Cover

Venus Specimen page

Venus Specimen spread

Weiss Specimen spread

Weiss Specimen spread

Folio specimen cover

Folio Specimen spread

Imprimatur Specimen

Imprimatur specimen spread

Serifa specimen cover by Adrian Frutiger

Serifa specimen by Adrian Frutiger

Impressum specimen spread

Impressum specimen spread

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