Berlin, Germany

An impressive joint venture of the Buchstabenmuseum (Museum of Letters) and a dozen dedicated students from the University of Applied Sciences in Coburg has transformed a former beauty salon into an impressive museum experience in the heart of Berlin. An elevated walkway in the museum serves as a central element and leads the visitors throughout the exhibition spaces where “the letterforms are featured as heroes.”

What began as a school assignment developed into a thesis exhibition and leaves a lasting legacy for the benefit of anyone interested in typography and signage. Beyond ideation and design, students also gained valuable hands-on experience by spending a week at the Lichtenfels Innovationszentrum (a makerspace) building and assembling fittings and display components.

Read a full account of this great student-led project here.

The Buchstabenmuseum was founded as a nonprofit organization in 2005. Its founding was inspired by an enthusiasm for typography and a passion for preserving typographical signs and characters. The museum aims to collect, restore and exhibit letters and characters from Berlin and around the world. Hundreds of letters have been saved from neglect or destruction and placed on display in the museum. Through the systematic preservation and documentation of these historical objects, the Buchstabenmuseum has become both a reminder of past eras and a laboratory for ongoing discussions. It is currently the only museum that focuses exclusively on individual letters as symbols.

Buchstabenmuseum — Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 13, 10178 Berlin-Mitte