Old German script in Brothers Grimm book?

Question

I have an old copy (undated) of a fairy tales book by the Brothers Grimm. In the table of contents I can read the titles, but having no German I can't read much more than that.

The book is published in the old ornate German script (sorry, don't know the technical name for it).

My question is: Does anybody know about what year books would have been published in the old script? In about what year would the script have changed to a modern typeface?

I'd like to get an approximate date for the publication of this book.

Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

It was Hitler who in 1941 decided that the old "Gothic" Fraktur German script (most perfected in the form of the so called "Schwabach script") was to be replaced by Antiqua typeface. He had the weird idea that the Gothic German typeface was actually what he had called "Schwabacher Judenschrift" ("Schwabach Jews' script") already on the Nazi Party congress of 1934. On 3 January 1941, Martin Bormann, the chief of the Reich Chancellery issued a circular that Antiqua had to be introduced as soon as possible. The 1942 edition of the most important German dictionary, the "Duden", was alrady printed in Antiqua. Due to the war, not all printing offices were able to change equipment in a hurry, anmd so you find occasional printed matters in Gothic Script until shortly after 1945.

I assume that no Grimm's fairytales edition later than 1942 would have been printed in Gothic typeface.