Danemark : le pays des grands ponts et des trains rapides : DSB - Chemins de Fer de l"Etat Danois - Danske Statsbaner : 1935 : cover by Erik Frederiksen
A fascinating French language travel brochure issued by the Danske Statsbaner - here as the Chemins de Fer de l"Etat Danois and in English the Danish State Railways - and published in 1935. I have to admit it was the cover, by Erik Frederiksen, that caught my eye but the graphic design of that is not the only thing of interest in this small, well produced brochure.
The booklet gives details of travel routes, by sea and railway, to Denmark and then about the trains and services of the DSB. It was produced to coincide with the completion of the Lillebælt -Little Belt railway bridge in 1935, that was followed in 1937 by the bridging of the Storstrømmen and the following year by that of the Oddesund. These routes can be seen on the map of the country in the centre of the booklet that is by Poul Sæbye.
These bridges, connecting the various islands and peninsular areas of the country helped drive a decade of innovation for DSB and that included the new lyntog (lightning trains), the high speed diesel multiple units that are also described in the booklet. But perhaps the most striking illustrations are by an artist who was to be well known for her drawings of engineering and infrastructure such as the bridges described here; Lili Réthi.
Réthi (1894 - 1969) was a talented Austrian born artist who from the 1920s became noted for her drawings of industrial and engineering projects. Réthi left her base in Germany in 1934, in order to avoid a commission from Hermann Göring, on the grounds that she had accepted a commission in Denmark. This, I suspect, was that commission.
She moved to the UK and, in the late 1930s, undertook commissions from the London Midland & Scottish Railway and the GPO, the latter for work showing the Post Office Railway, before emigrating to New York in 1939. As an American citizen Réthi became famous for her work as an artist and illustrator, most famously for her work depicting the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
All this in an understated tourist brochure.
Danemark : le pays des grands ponts et des trains rapides : DSB - Chemins de Fer de l"Etat Danois - Danske Statsbaner : 1935 : cover by Erik Frederiksen
A fascinating French language travel brochure issued by the Danske Statsbaner - here as the Chemins de Fer de l"Etat Danois and in English the Danish State Railways - and published in 1935. I have to admit it was the cover, by Erik Frederiksen, that caught my eye but the graphic design of that is not the only thing of interest in this small, well produced brochure.
The booklet gives details of travel routes, by sea and railway, to Denmark and then about the trains and services of the DSB. It was produced to coincide with the completion of the Lillebælt -Little Belt railway bridge in 1935, that was followed in 1937 by the bridging of the Storstrømmen and the following year by that of the Oddesund. These routes can be seen on the map of the country in the centre of the booklet that is by Poul Sæbye.
These bridges, connecting the various islands and peninsular areas of the country helped drive a decade of innovation for DSB and that included the new lyntog (lightning trains), the high speed diesel multiple units that are also described in the booklet. But perhaps the most striking illustrations are by an artist who was to be well known for her drawings of engineering and infrastructure such as the bridges described here; Lili Réthi.
Réthi (1894 - 1969) was a talented Austrian born artist who from the 1920s became noted for her drawings of industrial and engineering projects. Réthi left her base in Germany in 1934, in order to avoid a commission from Hermann Göring, on the grounds that she had accepted a commission in Denmark. This, I suspect, was that commission.
She moved to the UK and, in the late 1930s, undertook commissions from the London Midland & Scottish Railway and the GPO, the latter for work showing the Post Office Railway, before emigrating to New York in 1939. As an American citizen Réthi became famous for her work as an artist and illustrator, most famously for her work depicting the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
All this in an understated tourist brochure.