Axel Bertram

Life & Legacy

Axel Bertram (26 March 1936 - 16 March 2019) was a German commercial artist, type designer, illustrator, magazine designer and medalist. During his later decades he became, in addition, a knowledgeable and dedicated expert on calligraphy. Confident in his judgements, he also contributed articles to newspapers and magazines, though this was motivated more by a personal drive to share his enthusiasm for his ideas on design than because he aspired to any sort of career as a journalist or commentator.
To paraphrase several of the tributes paid to his memory after he died (which seem to have originated with a press release issued by the Leipzig publishing business, Lehmstedt Verlag), only the specialists knew his name, but virtually every East German citizen was familiar with Bertram's work and, after the East German coinage redesign that started in 1969, carried examples of it in a purse or a pocket when leaving home.