He was born Johannes Gensfleisch, but history has remembered him as Gutenberg. As we mark the anniversary of his death today, LEC takes a look back at this major figure in German culture, to coincide with your language study trip to Germany.
A birth in Mainz, a city to explore with your host family
While historians still struggle to agree on the details of Gutenberg’s early life, it is believed that he was born around 1400 in Mainz, a city you may have the chance to explore with your host family during a language study trip to Germany. At the time of his birth, the Country still known as the Holy Roman Empire.
From Rhineland-Palatinate to Strasbourg
His father, a wealthy goldsmith, held a prestigious position in the city in Rhineland-Palatinate. And just as Gutenberg was preparing to take up the goldsmith’s trade himself, a conflict between the city authorities and the artisans forced him to leave the city.
A language study trip to Germany to learn more about the inventor of movable type
From Strasbourg, where he has made his home, he continues to push the boundaries of his curiosity about metal and text; his revolutionary invention is just around the corner… When he was around 40 years old, his creation was ready: as you may have the opportunity to discover during your language study trip to Germany, he had just devised a process involving the casting of metal type—movable and therefore reusable at will—enabling text to be printed using a press. Typography was born!