> The abandoned Stencil Type of DIN 1451
The DIN Schablonenschrift A, (Stencil Type A), was once part of the DIN 1451 (Normschriften) standard. The inclusion of the stencil typeface and a type construction drawing occurred in the 1940s, as evidenced by a document dated October 1943. However, this typeface is no longer included in the current DIN 1451 standard. According to Albert-Jan Pool, it is likely that the typeface was removed before 1980. For a period of about 30 years, from the time of the Third Reich to the time of the Federal Republic, this typeface served as an official standard for easy-to-use stencil lettering in Germany.
The Basic font complies with the old DIN specification and is available as a free font exclusively on our astype fonts website and in the astype FontStore. This will be of particular interest to modelers interested in historical accuracy, as they can use it to create German decals. Although the font has a limited character set, it should be sufficient for most applications. Please do not redistribute this font, as the astype fonts End-User License Agreement (EULA) still applies. However, you are granted permission to use the font freely for both commercial and non-commercial purposes.
The Regular font style has been adapted to better meet today's evolving typographic needs. It includes an expanded character set that includes Latin Extended and Cyrillic characters. The font also has slightly modified letter proportions, improved legibility for selected characters, improved spacing, and the addition of alternate characters. While it no longer strictly adheres to the original DIN 1451 specifications, these modifications ensure that the font is better suited to contemporary typographic needs.