In German-speaking countries, the so-called ‘Deutsche Kurrentschrift’ (German Kurrent/cursive script) was the predominant form of everyday and commercial handwriting until the first third of the 20th century. This highly curvilinear script is characterised above all by acute angles (pointed script) and varying stroke thickness (varying thickness) in the individual letters.

Until the typewriter gradually began to gain acceptance during the 1880s, cursive script was also used for official documents and minutes, for example in Austria-Hungary.

Kurrent should not be confused with ‘Fraktur’. This umbrella term refers to various German blackletter typefaces dating from the mid-15th century.

Kurrent developed into a highly decorative form of writing, but was difficult for pupils to learn.

For this reason, in 1911 the Prussian Ministry of Education commissioned the graphic designer Friedrich Sütterlin (1865–1917) to develop a simplified school handwriting style, which was introduced in 1915 and later became known as Sütterlin script.

By simplifying the shapes of the letters and introducing the ball-point nib as a standardised writing instrument, Sütterlin created a basic script that began to gradually replace cursive script from the 1920s onwards.

In 1935, it was officially incorporated into the curriculum as the ‘Deutsche Volksschrift’. The Sütterlin script, often referred to as ‘Deutsche Schrift’, is frequently associated with the Nazi era, as is the printed Gothic Fraktur script.

However, as part of the Nazis’ global plans for conquest and reorganisation, the German typeface was also to be standardised and converted to the more common Antiqua style. Consequently, in January 1941, Gothic script was banned; the Nazis had denigrated it as ‘Schwabacher Judenlettern’ (Schwabacher Jewish letters); on 1 September 1941, a corresponding reform of the cursive script taught in schools followed. By decree of the Reich Ministry of Education, the Latin ‘standard script’ was made compulsory from the 1941/42 school year onwards.

Today, German manuscripts and printed works are subject to the (controversial) classification system established in 1964 under DIN 16518.