The roots of the Akzidenz-Grotesk® typeface date back as early
as 1880. The designs are rumored to have been a derivative of
the Walbaum or Didot serif fonts. When the serifs are removed
from these designs, the proportions are very similar to those of
Akzidenz-Grotesk. The Akzidenz-Grotesk family is actually a
collection of numerous grotesque typefaces from different
designers, unified to create a complete family. Once unified as
a single family, Akzidenz-Grotesk remained unchanged until
Berthold’s Günter Gerhard Lange enhanced the family by adding an
additional 33 styles. The revisions and extensions preserved the
original 19th century details while adding additional
versatility to the family. Berthold added to the family once
again in 2006, releasing Akzidenz-Grotesk Pro in the OpenType®
format. With the release came Central European, Baltic, Turkish,
Danish and Esperanto character sets. Cyrillic and Greek
characters were added in 2007. Other variations of Akzidenz-
Grotesk have been created since its incept