--- title: "How Berlin Writes" date: 2026-07-17 last_modified: 2026-07-24T16:56:39+02:00 generated_at: 2026-07-27T12:03:45Z url: "https://www.berlin.museum/en/article/how-berlin-writes" description: "One city, many typefaces – and why they belong together at the Berlin Museum" image: "https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/BM_E-Mail-Signatur_1070x720px_03.png" language: "en-US" --- # How Berlin Writes One city, many typefaces – and why they belong together at the Berlin Museum Have you ever noticed what Berlin looks like when you focus only on the lettering? You move through the city and read it as you go. There is the clear signage of the Underground. A few streets away, an old illuminated shop sign hangs above a doorway. In between, a handwritten board stands outside a late-night corner shop. Somewhere else, a new piece of lettering appears on a utility box. Berlin cannot be told in a single voice. And that is why it cannot be expressed through a single typeface. ## Why we have more than one logo When you look at our logos, you may notice that they do not all look the same. That is a deliberate choice. Each version combines two different typefaces, reflecting the contrasts and connections that shape Berlin. In Berlin, different eras and ideas exist side by side as a matter of course. Our typefaces reflect that. They include historical forms, post-war modernism, contemporary designs created in Berlin and today’s digital experiments. Many of our typefaces come directly from the city itself – from everyday life, architecture and specific places. [![](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Berlin-Museum-Hochkant-169x300.png)](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/SSM_Logo-Animation_9-16_31sek_slow.mp4) ### Futura Black Stencil – illuminated signs of the post-war years Futura Black Stencil, for example, recalls the illuminated signs that appeared after the Second World War. Its broken letterforms grew out of the practical logic of stencils and proved especially durable for lit façades. You can still find this style across Berlin today: on old shopfronts in Charlottenburg or on residential buildings from the 1960s, often as individual letters glowing after dark. ### Moskau Grotesk – a journey along Karl-Marx-Allee Moskau Grotesk is based on the lettering of Café Moskau on Karl-Marx-Allee in Mitte. ### Deutsche Oper Underground Station – the architecture of the 1970s At Deutsche Oper Underground station in Charlottenburg, you can see a typeface that feels like part of the architecture itself. The letters are not simply applied to the building. They are integrated into the design. That was a characteristic approach of the 1970s: typography was considered part of the space. ### ABC Maxi – late-night corner shops and Kotti ABC Maxi recalls the neon signs you might spot at night outside Spätis in Neukölln or snack bars around Kottbusser Tor. The letters have a curved appearance because real neon tubes cannot create sharp corners. The typeface is built around that same principle. ### WT Bobine – West Berlin flair WT Bobine suits places such as Bikini Berlin at Breitscheidplatz. There you find clean lines and an open grid. The typeface works in a similar way: carefully structured yet approachable. ### Crack – street style in Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg Crack is inspired by the lettering of the city itself: graffiti tags along Warschauer Straße or markings on utility boxes in Kreuzberg. It draws on this direct, fast and often imperfect visual language and brings it into focus. ### CMM Coda – the city of bureaucracy CMM Coda takes its cue from typewriters once used in offices and public administrations across Berlin. You can still see traces of this aesthetic today on old forms and notices, whether in municipal buildings, workshops or back offices. ### EK Roumald – back to the Gründerzeit in Prenzlauer Berg and Moabit EK Roumald echoes the lettering found on late nineteenth-century façades in areas such as Prenzlauer Berg and parts of Moabit. It combines these historical forms with contemporary digital tools. ### Neureal – pop-up spaces and new technologies Neureal represents today’s Berlin: clubs, digital culture and design shaped by new technologies. You are more likely to encounter this attitude in temporary spaces – exhibitions, project venues and the nightlife around places such as Revaler Straße. ## City Impressions from our Online Collection These images show how lettering makes Berlin visible in the urban landscape. Most of the selected works date from the 1950s to the 1990s and can only offer a snapshot of the city’s diversity. They do, however, give an impression of how typefaces, signs and illuminated advertising have shaped Berlin’s streetscape, and of what has inspired us along the way. ![]() ![Schwarz-weiß Foto mit Ladenschrift Leibniz Keks und Auslage, beleuchtet](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Leibniz-Keks_1928.jpg) Berlin Illuminated: Model Shop on Kurfürstendamm 26a, Berlin, 1928. Inventory Number: IV 97/2(098) V ![Leuchtreklamen an allen Häuserzeilen, nässeglatte Straßen, parkende Autos](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Kudamm-Nacht_1956.jpg) Kurfürstendamm at Night, Berlin, 1956. Inventory Number: SM 2018-00229,19 ![Redde Herrenausstatter steht über dem Geschäft, Passant:innen laufen an den Schaufenstern vorbei, es hängt Weihnachtsdeko in den Straßen](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Kudamm_Redde_1967.jpg) Men’s Outfitters on Ku’damm, photographed on 30 December 1967, from the series <em>Box 14: Berlin Christmas II (1970s)</em>, Berlin, 1967. Inventory Number: SM 2014-1752,103 ![siehe Beschriftung](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Kudamm_1969.jpg) Kiosk on Ku’damm at the Corner of Uhlandstraße, photographed on 12 June 1969, from the series <em>Box 93: Redevelopment of the Zoo District</em>, Berlin, 1969. Inventory Number: SM 2014-1937,122 ![siehe Beschreibung](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Kiosk_1970er.jpg) Street Scene with Newspaper Kiosk and Advertising Sign for the Engelhardt Pub <em>Bei Robby</em>, Berlin, 1970–72. Inventory Number: SM 2020-00760-2-4,23 ![Ikonisches Foto mit dem Schild Achtung! Sie verlassen jetzt West-Berlin, im Hintergrund das Brandenburger Tor](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/SieverlassenjetztWest-Berlin.jpg) Brandenburg Gate, Border Area with East Berlin, Berlin, June 1979. Inventory Number: SM 2025-03374-1,30 ![Angabe Tagesgericht und Warme Küche](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Restaurant.jpg) Advertising Signs at the <em>Berliner Kindl. Zur Hütte</em> Restaurant, Berlin Steglitz–Zehlendorf, 1970–72. Inventory Number: SM 2020-00760-2-5,25 ![Bahnsteighäuschen mit Imbiß-Schild von Engelharft und Zigarettenautomat](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Imbiss.jpg) Gesundbrunnen S-Bahn Station, Snack Bar Advertising on the Platform, Berlin-Wedding, 1982. Inventory Number: SM 2025-01617,128 ![Bahnhof Botanischer Garten steht über dem verschlossenen Zugang, Plakat mit einem Tennis spielenden Pärchen und dem Spruch Komm mit! Die Milch macht's.](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/BotanischerGarten.jpg) Botanical Garden S-Bahn Station, Closed Platform Access, Berlin-Steglitz, 1984. Inventory Number: SM 2025-01617,146 ![Eingang einer Kneipe](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Berliner-Kneipen.jpg) 1,560 Berlin Pubs, 2002–2016. From the series <em>Berlin Pubs</em>, Berlin, 2012–2016. Inventory Number: SM 2021-00611 ![Blaue Kacheln eine vergitterte Tür Schild Bahnhofsgaststätte Eingang in der Vorhalle! sowie Angebotstafeln rechts und links Tabakwaren Süßwaren Zeitschriften Flaschenbier Spirituosen außer dem Haus](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Bahnhofsgaststaette.jpg) Heerstraße S-Bahn Station, Station Restaurant, Berlin-Charlottenburg, 1983. Inventory Number: SM 2025-01617,038 ![Ein Plakat auf einem Holzaufsteller mit dem Schriftzug Alles Gute kommt am Straßenrand](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Alles-Gute.jpg) Election Poster, photographed on 28 January 1985, from the series <em>Box 87: Election Posters</em>, Berlin, 1985. Inventory Number: SM 2014-1927,151 ![Gerüst mit Laufschrift "Die Freie Berliner Presse meldet"](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Freie-Presse.jpg) Potsdamer Platz, Western Side, Berlin, May 1966. Inventory Number: SM 2023-01360,41 ![Kino rote Vorhänge an der Leinwand ein Die zu sehen](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Die.jpg) Night on Earth. Images from Berlin: Delphi Cinema, Berlin, 2006. Inventory Number: SM 2018-01930,14 ![Banner mit dem Schriftzug Denkmalpflege Berlin/DDR und ein eingerüstetes Brandenburger Tor](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Denkmalpflege.jpg) Brandenburg Gate, Berlin-Mitte, April 1990. Inventory Number: SM 2018-01190,53-021 ![Foto vom Eingang der S-Bahnstation](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/WarschauerStrasse.jpg) Warschauer Straße S-Bahn Station, Berlin-Friedrichshain, 1990. Inventory Number: SM 2025-01617,078 ![Haustür (Detail) mit Türknauf, Schlüssellöchern und Schild "Bitte während des Schnurrens gegen die Tür drücken"](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Schnurrens.jpg) Front Door (Detail) with Door Knob, Keyholes and Sign, Berlin, 1970–72. Inventory Number: SM 2020-00760-2-5,19 ![Vertikale Leuchtreklame an der Hausfassade, Eckhaus](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Modehaus_Eleganzt.jpg) Illuminated Advertising for the Elegant Fashion House, Berlin-Friedrichshain, 1990. Inventory Number: SM 2025-01617,083 ![Haushaltswaren steht über der Tür und der Ladenzeile](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Haushaltswaren.jpg) Shopfront, Berlin, 1990. Inventory Number: SM 2025-01617,085 ![Lass mich bitte offen, Leave me open please steht auf dem U-Bahn-Fenster](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/BVG.jpg) Speaking Windows in the Underground During the Coronavirus Pandemic, Berlin, 2021. Inventory Number: BJ 0421 ![Die Fliese mit dem Ä fehlt](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/MM.jpg) Eight Tiles Bearing the Lettering from Märkisches Museum Underground Station, Berlin, 1986–88. Inventory Number: SM 2023-01943 ## What this means for us For us at Berlin Museum, this is at the heart of what we do. We do not present Berlin as a single, uniform image. We show the city as it is: full of different voices and constantly changing. That is why we work with different typefaces. Each brings its own perspective, rooted in a particular place, moment in time or aspect of everyday life. Our visual identity remains open. It allows for contrasts and continues to evolve, just as the city itself does. We developed it together with the agency Stan Hema. Together, we created a design that makes visible what defines Berlin. This is how many typefaces come together to form a single picture. ## Learn more here - [ ![](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/BM_E-Mail-Signatur_1070x720px_01-1-300x200.png)](https://www.berlin.museum/en/hello) - [ ![](https://www.berlin.museum/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/BM_E-Mail-Signatur_1070x720px_02-300x200.png)](https://www.berlin.museum/en/article/berlin-museum-faq)