Wikipedia
Akzidenz-Grotesk is a sans-serif or grotesque typeface originally released by the Berthold Type Foundry of Berlin. 'Akzidenz' means a 'trade' typeface for commercial use such as publicity materials, adverts, tickets and forms, as opposed to typefaces intended for decorative or book use.
Dating to the late nineteenth century, Akzidenz Grotesk belongs to a tradition of general-purpose, unadorned sans-serif fonts that had become popular during the nineteenth century, at first in Britain and later in Germany, becoming one of the most popular examples of this style. Its simple, unadorned design has influenced many later faces and became commonly used in the International or 'Swiss' design style by the 1950s and 1960s. It has sometimes been sold as Standard or Basic Commercial in the USA.