The typefounder

Götz: Typefounder

Kruspe: Typefounder

The picture of typefounder Danne(n)berg was paid for by his wife, Mrs. Anna Dorothea Danne(n)berg.

The typefounder is at work in his nicest clothes with his assistant in front of the melting furnace (you see the chimney in the background). The picture, like so many others here in Erfurt, is more of a portrait than an actual dance of death. Death shows up behind his victim, but he does not kill them, does not drag them off, and most importantly: he does not dance.

Der Tod zum Schriftgiesser:
So manche schöne Schrift hat deine Hand gegossen,
Antiqua, Cicero, Corpus, Cursiv, Fraktur,
Dein Leben ist dabei wie das Metall zerflossen,
Ich zeige dir für jetzt die ausgelauf'ne Uhr,
Komm, folge mir, dein Leib muss nunmehr in der Erden,
Die Aller Mutter ist, Petit-Cursiv selbst werden.

Death to the Typefounder:
Your hand has cast so many beautiful fonts,
Antiqua, Cicero, Corpus, Cursive, Fraktur,
In the process your life has melted away like the metal,
Now I show you the hourglass that has run out.
Come, follow me, your body must now in the earth,
- which is the mother of all - itself become Petit-Cursive.

Der Schriftgiesser:
Der Tod scheut keine Kunst, in meiner Jahre Mitte,
Löscht er auch mir bereits die Lebensflamme aus!
Der schwache Körper zwar zu meines Geistes Hütte
Zerfällt in dunkler Gruft nunmehr in Staub und Graus;
Jedoch mein Geist besteht, weil schon mit güldnen Lettern
Im Lebensbuche steht mein Nam auf ew'gen Blättern.

The Typefounder:
Death fears no art. In the middle of my years,
he has already extinguished the flame of my life!
The weak body, even the shelter of my spirit,
is now crumbling in a dark tomb into dust and horror;
But my spirit endures, because my name is already written
in golden letters in the Book of Life on eternal pages.

These verses are longer than usual: Six lines each.

There's a small error in Götz' text. He has repeated the word "Lettern" instead of "Blättern", so the verse ends: »mit güldnen Lettern […] auf ew'gen Lettern«.