Die Brücke (German pronunciation: [diː ˈbʁʏkə] , "The Bridge") was an advocacy institute founded in Munich, Germany, in 1911. The official name was Die Brücke - Internationales Institut zur Organisierung der geistigen Arbeit (The Bridge - International institute to organise intellectual work).
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Description
Die Brücke was founded by Karl Wilhelm Bührer and Adolf Saager. It was essentially supported by Wilhelm Ostwald. Amongst other supporters were Svante Arrhenius and Wilhelm Erner. Paul Otlet was named Honorary President.
The Bridge tried to build a comprehensive, illustrated encyclopedia on sheets of standardized formats. Its aim was to improve and organize scholarly information and communication. The following tasks were mentioned and (partially) carried out:
to make a world archive of published material, especially from journals, catalogues, advertising material etc. It is mentioned that the Music and Theater section alone contained over 1 million items.
to be the source of information for exhibits and other activities
to become a college of organisation and organisation management
to publish a bi-weekly journal, Die Brückenzeitung. The journal had runs of 6.000 to 10.000 copies and was distributed either freely (reference 1) or for 10 Mark/year . Publication ceased when Die Brücke went bankrupt in 1913.
to set world standards for published material
The archive seems to have existed, but was destroyed after Die Brücke went bankrupt. The college never started, the journal was published and a world standard was set.
Weltformat - World Standard
One of the main tasks of Die Brücke was to make a world standard for published materials. This was a new idea at the time. The idea was very simple and was based on two rules:
each standard size would be a rectangle with a dimensional ratio of √2
each successive standard size would double in area, beginning with 1.41 cm2
The standards were named World Standards (Weltformat) I-XVI and had the following sizes:
I : 1 x 1.41 cm
II : 1.41 x 2 cm
III : 2 x 2.83 cm
IV : 2.83 x 4 cm
V : 4 x 5.66 cm
VI : 5.66 x 8 cm — The standards I–VI were meant for labels, tickets, stamps, ex-libris and similar small items.
VII : 8 x 11.3 cm
VIII : 11.3 x 16 cm
IX : 16 x 22.6 cm
X : 22.6 x 32 cm — The standards VIII–X were meant for small books, leaflets and similar publications.
XI : 32 x 45.3 cm
XII : 45.3 x 64 cm
XIII : 64 x 90.5 cm
XIV : 90.5 x 128 cm
XV : 128 x 181 cm