Founded in Berlin in 1858 by Hermann
Berthold (1831–1904) as institute for galvanotyping and later
as brass rule factory. Acquired the Reinhold foundry in 1893. Transformed into a stock
company in 1896, trading as H. Berthold AG. Acquired Bauer &
Co in Stuttgart in 1897. Started a branch in St. Petersburg in
1898 by taking over the local Ross foundry. Acquired Rust
in Vienna (1905), Theinhardt in Berlin (1908), Flinsch’s Petersburg branch (1912), Tech
in Berlin (1917, together with Gursch), and Gursch (1918).
Böttger, F.A.
Brockhaus, Rühl in Leipzig and
Kahle in Weimar were taken over in 1918 and merged into the Böttger
foundry in Leipzig-Paunsdorf. Klinkhardt (1919) and Kloberg (1922) were added to form Berthold’s
Böttger-Klinkhardt branch in Leipzig. Started a branch in Riga when
the Petersburg operation was nationalized. In 1926, Stempel acquired a 50%
share in the Vienna branch and Berthold received half of the shares
in the First Hungarian Type Foundry in Budapest in return. In 1927,
Stempel took over Poppelbaum in Vienna and continued to operate it as
Berthold & Stempel. Also in 1927, Stempel and Berthold acquired
stakes in Haas, Switzerland (sold again
in 1955). Acquired one third of Genzsch
& Heyse in Hamburg (1929). In More…
Founded in Berlin in 1858 by Hermann Berthold (1831–1904) as institute for galvanotyping and later as brass rule factory. Acquired the Reinhold foundry in 1893. Transformed into a stock company in 1896, trading as H. Berthold AG. Acquired Bauer & Co in Stuttgart in 1897. Started a branch in St. Petersburg in 1898 by taking over the local Ross foundry. Acquired Rust in Vienna (1905), Theinhardt in Berlin (1908), Flinsch’s Petersburg branch (1912), Tech in Berlin (1917, together with Gursch), and Gursch (1918). Böttger, F.A. Brockhaus, Rühl in Leipzig and Kahle in Weimar were taken over in 1918 and merged into the Böttger foundry in Leipzig-Paunsdorf. Klinkhardt (1919) and Kloberg (1922) were added to form Berthold’s Böttger-Klinkhardt branch in Leipzig. Started a branch in Riga when the Petersburg operation was nationalized. In 1926, Stempel acquired a 50% share in the Vienna branch and Berthold received half of the shares in the First Hungarian Type Foundry in Budapest in return. In 1927, Stempel took over Poppelbaum in Vienna and continued to operate it as Berthold & Stempel. Also in 1927, Stempel and Berthold acquired stakes in Haas, Switzerland (sold again in 1955). Acquired one third of Genzsch & Heyse in Hamburg (1929). In 1930, Bauer & Co in Stuttgart was closed and replaced by a Berthold branch office. The Leipzig operation closed in 1930. The Budapest company was lost in 1944. [Klingspor-Museum]
Developed the Diatype phototypesetting machine in the 1950s, and introduced the keyboard-controlled Diatronic in 1967. Production of foundry type was discontinued in 1978, and the casting program taken over by Johannes Wagner. After the lucrative business of photosetting machines and fonts declined, Berthold had to file for bankruptcy in 1993.
The rights to their digital type library were claimed by Chicago company Berthold Types Ltd. [Klingspor-Museum] Their assets were acquired by Monotype in 2022 [Announcement].
