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book (design) story #304

werner knauf:
ça ira

büchergilde gutenberg, berlin, 1930
printer: buchdruckwerkstätte g.m.b.h., berlin
size: 24 x 17 cm
designer: rudolf dörwald

another example of modernist book design from the büchergilde berlin by rudolf dörwald (no dates known).

erich knauf (1895-1944) was a socialist writer who worked as an editor for the büchergilde.

in 1934 knauf spent several months in nazi concentration camps. in 1944 he was condemned to death and executed after being denounced of telling anti-nazi jokes.

in this book knauf tells autobiographic stories about the so-called kapp-putsch in 1920, an attempt by right-wing nationalists to overthrow the weimar republic.

the photos with removed background, the titles and page numbers in bold sans-serif, and the cover photomontage are done in a "new typography" approach. unlike other modernist designers rudolf dörwald kept working for the büchergilde after its "gleichschaltung" in 1933.