Blackletter typography was first used within the Gutenberg Bible and is characterised by its variation in stroke weight and the tall and narrow nature of each letterform as well as sharp and ornamental finials within certain letterforms. There are many variations of blackletter, those which are most commonly used are Fraktur, Textur, Rotunda and Schwabacher. Blackletter was widely adopted in Western Europe from the mid twelfth century however its popularity decreased in later years as it was difficult to read and other typefaces where easier to print with after the introduction of moveable type. However blackletter remained popular in Germany in particular during the Nazi regime with Josef Goebbles declaring blackletter the 'lettering of the German people'. Fraktur heavily features across Nazi propaganda during this time. Since its use within Nazi propoganda traditional blackletter typography has further decreased in popularity due to its poor legibly and use by the Nazis.
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