Friedrich Soennecken

Soennecken was born in Iserlohn-Dröschede, Sauerland in 1848, the son of a blacksmith. On 27 May 1875 he founded the F. Soennecken Verlag, a commercial enterprise in Remscheid, Westphalia.

He is best known for the reintroduction of a Rundschrift (round script) style of calligraphy and the broad pen nib associated with it. Whilst ronde script rendered with quill originated in late 16th-century France and was widely used in the country throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, it fell out of popularity after the invention of the mass-produced pointed pen from steel in early 19th century.

Round writing was designed to be a visually appealing, standardized style of penmanship which was easy to learn and execute, and Soennecken published books on the topic in several languages. As a result, broad-nibbed pen (this time from steel) was popular again not just in Germany, but also in France, Russia and elsewhere; scribes of the French Ministry of Finance used it even until right after World War II.

In 1888, Friedrich Nietzsche wrote to a friend that he had finally discovered both a quality paper to write on and a quality pen from Germany: Soenneckens Rundschrift Federhalter.