Johann Gottfried Herder
Enlightenment thinker, theologian, cultural philosopher1744-1803Johann Gottfried Herder was born in the East Prussian city of Mohrungen in 1744 and studied theology from 1762 in Königsberg (today Kaliningrad), where he attended lectures by Immanuel Kant, among others. It was at this time that he composed his first literary, philosophical and cultural-historical works.
Sophronius Eusebius Hieronymus
Translator of the Bible347-420Paintings often depict Jerome as a hermit living in a modest dwelling with a tame lion. While the taming of the lion remains in the realm of legend, the eremitic life of the future saint in Syria has been verified.
Augustine of Hippo
Theologian, bishop and autobiographer during the final years of the Roman Empire354-430Augustine was born in the year 354 to a pagan father and a Christian mother in the North African city of Thagaste (now Souk Ahras), and lived in a time of transition between Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Only three decades prior, the Roman Emperor Constantine had publicly declared himself a Christian; around 150 years later the greatest empire of Classical times was in ruins.
Karlgeorg Hoefer
From the universal quill to a calligraphy workshop for everyone1914-2000After an apprenticeship as a typesetter in Hamburg, Karlgeorg Hoefer completed his training as a graphic designer at Offenbach’s Hochschule für Gestaltung academy where he went on to teach as a professor of typography. He was assigned that post in 1946 in Offenbach’s municipal Meisterschule for design-based craft.
E.T.A. Hoffmann
Romantic with a sharp tongue1776-1822E.T.A. Hoffmann, today remembered primarily as an author of fantastic fairy tales and novellas, was a lifelong sharp-tongued critic of the authoritarian Prussian state.
Herman Hollerith
Inventor of the punch card system1860-1929As the child of immigrants from the Palatinate region of Germany, Herman Hollerith had already completed his training as a mining engineer at the age of 19 and he worked on the American census of 1880. From then on he looked into the question of saving data.
Wilhelm von Humboldt
Statesman, education reformer, linguist1767-1835Along with his globe-trotting younger brother Alexander, Wilhelm von Humboldt – born in Potsdam in 1767 – is regarded as the quintessential Prussian polymath of his age. He left lasting legacies as a reformer of the education system, diplomat and statesmen.
Edward Johnston
Self-taught typescript designer from the Arts and Crafts movement1872-1944Edward Johnston was born in Uruguay as the son of a Scottish army officer. He entered the typography industry having initially studied medicine, a field he moved away from after being inspired by the handwriting section of the British Museum in London and by William Morris and his circle of designers.
Erhard Kaiser
From the printing city of Leipzig to the DutchTypeLibrary*1957Erhard Kaiser was born in Quedlinburg in 1957. After receiving his high school diploma, he studied at Leipzig’s Academy of Visual Arts.
Friedrich Gottlob Keller
The inventor of modern paper1816-1895Friedrich Gottlob Keller’s father was a weaving and reed binding master, his nine siblings died early. He did not fulfil his desire for a qualified technical training so he also became a weaver and reed binder. After completing his journeyman years in 1834, he spent eight years working intensively but to no avail on a perpetual motion machine.
