FE-Schrift

Number plate font that is difficult to forge¹
The FE typeface, developed in 1978-1980 by Karlgeorg Hoefer for the German Federal Highway Research Institute, has been used as the typeface for German vehicle number plates since 1994. This typeface has no uniform proportions. Every letter has its own unique appearance and does not derive – as is usually the case – from other letter forms. This is intended to make forgery more difficult.

The FE typeface was designed to be difficult to forge and easily machine-readable; number plates should allow automatic number plate recognition and evaluation. The new plates were introduced in the course of issuing the new European number plates. Depending on the number of letters, the variants close-spaced, medium-spaced and small medium-spaced are available. In 2000, the FE typeface completely replaced its predecessor DIN 1451 after a transition phase.

Nome strano FE-Schrift, vero?

Fälschungserschwerende Schrift (forgery-impeding typeface) or FE-Schrift² has been the only typeface used on new vehicle registration plates of Germany since November 2000, except for plates issued to military-registered vehicles, which still use the former DIN 1451 typeface. The abbreviation “FE” is derived from the compound German adjective “fälschungserschwerend” combining the noun “Fälschung” (falsification) and the verb “erschweren” (to hinder).

The motivation for the creation of the typeface was spun in the late 1970s in the light of Red Army Faction terrorism when it was discovered that with the then-standard font for vehicle registration plates—the DIN 1451 font—it was particularly easy to modify letters by applying a small amount of black paint or tape.

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1. German Museum of Books and Writing "Signs – Books – Networks" – Font Design – FE-Schrift.
2. FE-Schrift – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, da cui è tratta anche l’immagine

Autore: eDue

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