The berlin "ſz" has a fascinating history of letters, typesetting, and economics! First off, it's strange that the German letter "ß", a ligature of two "S" for

The berlin "ſz" has a fascinating history of letters, typesetting, and economics! First off, it's strange that the German letter "ß", a ligature of two "S" forms, is named "Eszett", which is the letters "S" and "Z". This is because way back in Middle German, "sz" was the more common form. [0] When moveable type was invented, Italian and Latin (and sometimes English) needed the "ſs" ligature, while only German needed the "ſz" ligature. Thus most typefaces only included the "ſs", so when printers needed to print German, they would substitute the readily available "ſs" for "ſz" rather than buy a new font. (This was further complicated by the dispute within Germany about whether to use Fraktur or Antiqua typefaces [1]) This practical economic decision led to the "ſs" ligature becoming standardized, turning into the modern letter "ß", but still called "Eszett"! Berlin street signs are fascinating as they (alone?) maintain the old-school "correct" "ſz" form. Most Germans seem to never have noticed that the name of "ß" is wrong. But similarly, English rarely notice that "W" is also named wrong--it is formed of a double-V not a double-U! - [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9F#Origin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9F#Origin - [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiqua%E2%80%93Fraktur_dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiqua%E2%80%93Fraktur_disput...