Fraktur (script)

Latin script (Fraktur hand)
Type	Alphabet
Languages	German¹ and some other European languages
Time period	16th – mid-20th centuries
Parent systems	Blackletter Latin script (Fraktur hand)
Child systems	Kurrentschrift, including Sütterlin
Sister systems	See Blackletter
Direction	Varies
ISO 15924	Latf, 217
Unicode range	0020–00FF²
1: And related languages. 2: normal Latin range; see below

Fraktur (German: [fʀakˈtuːɐ]) is a calligraphic hand of the Latin alphabet and any of several blackletter typefaces derived from this hand. The blackletter lines are broken up; that is, their forms contain many angles when compared to the smooth curves of the Antiqua (common) typefaces modeled after antique Roman square capitals and Carolingian minuscule. From this, Fraktur is sometimes contrasted with the "Latin alphabet" in northern European texts, which is sometimes called the "German alphabet", simply being a typeface of the Latin alphabet. Similarly, the term "Fraktur" or "Gothic" is sometimes applied to all of the blackletter typefaces (known in German as Gebrochene Schrift, "Broken Script").

Here is the English alphabet in Fraktur:

The word derives from the past participle fractus ("broken") of Latin frangere ("to break"); the same root as the English word "fracture".

Besides the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, Fraktur includes the ß (Eszett [ɛsˈtsɛt]), vowels with umlauts, and the ſ (long s). Some Fraktur typefaces also include a variant form of the letter r known as the r rotunda, and many a variety of ligatures which are left over from cursive handwriting and have rules for their use. Most older Fraktur typefaces make no distinction between the majuscules "I" and "J" (where the common shape is more suggestive of a "J"), even though the minuscules "i" and "j" are differentiated.