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Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
fraktur

1886, Fractur, "German black-lettering," from German Fraktur "black-letter, Gothic type," also "a fracture, a break," from Latin fractura (see fracture (n.)). So called from its angular, "broken" letters. The style was common in German printing from c.1540 and thence was transferred to Pennsylvania German arts that incorporate the lettering.

Wiktionary
fraktur

n. 1 (context typography English) A style of black letter type, used especially in Germany in the 16th to 20th centuries. 2 (context US English) A Pennsylvania German document style, incorporating watercolour illustration and fraktur lettering.

Wikipedia
Fraktur

Fraktur is a calligraphic hand of the Latin alphabet and any of several blackletter typefaces derived from this hand. The blackletter lines are broken up – that is, their forms contain many angles when compared to the smooth curves of the Antiqua (common) typefaces modeled after antique Roman square capitals and Carolingian minuscule. From this, Fraktur is sometimes contrasted with the "Latin alphabet" in northern European texts, being sometimes called the "German alphabet", despite simply being a typeface of the Latin alphabet. Similarly, the term "Fraktur" or "Gothic" is sometimes applied to all of the blackletter typefaces (known in German as Gebrochene Schrift, "Broken Script").

Here is the entire alphabet of English in Fraktur, using the \mathfrak font of the mathematical typesetting package TeX:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

The word derives from the past participle fractus ("broken") of Latin frangere ("to break"); the same root as the English word "fracture".

Fraktur (folk art)

Fraktur is both a style of lettering and a highly artistic and elaborate illuminated folk art created by the Pennsylvania Dutch (also known as Pennsylvania Deitsch or Pennsylvanian German). Most Fraktur were created between 1740 and 1860.

Fraktur drawings were executed in ink and/or watercolors and are found in a wide variety of forms: the Vorschriften (writing samples), the Taufscheine (birth and baptismal certificates), marriage and house blessings, book plates, and floral and figurative scenes. The earlier Fraktur were executed entirely by hand, while printed text became increasingly common in later examples. Common artistic motifs in Fraktur include birds, hearts, and tulips, as well as blackletter and italic calligraphy.

Today, many major American museums, including the American Folk Art Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art have Fraktur in their collection. Important Fraktur have been sold by major American auction houses and antique dealers for prices in excess of $100,000. The definitive text on Fraktur is widely considered to be The Fraktur-Writings or Illuminated Manuscripts of the Pennsylvania Germans, written by Dr. Donald A. Shelley and published by the Pennsylvania German Society in 1961. In late 2004, the majority of Dr. Shelley's Fraktur collection was sold at public auction at Pook & Pook, Inc. in Downingtown, Pennsylvania for $913,448.

Fraktur (disambiguation)

Fraktur may refer to:

  • Fraktur (script), a specific style of blackletter typeface
  • Fraktur (Pennsylvania German folk art), a kind of Pennsylvania German folk art

Usage examples of "fraktur".

Curious, he removed a bottle from the rack and read the label, with some difficulty deciphering the fraktur lettering.

The double-shadowed sundial, the rose and the red grapes, the fraktur lettering.

The form survived in the formal German script Fraktur until Fraktur itself bit the dust after World War II.