Richard Gans Type Foundry
Asset of Cultural Interest in the category of Asset of Industrial Interest
La Richard Gans Type Foundry It is the only example of an old type factory and trade in materials, typographic machines and printing goods that is preserved in the Community of Madrid. It historically documents the structure and organization of the Graphic Arts industry in Madrid at the end of the XNUMXth century.
The industrial buildings that make up the factory on Altamirano and Princesa streets, maintain the laminated steel structure characteristic of the time, as well as a large part of its interior elements, of industrial aesthetics and functionality, constituting a unique example of that Madrid in process. from metamorphosis from town to cosmopolitan and industrial city.
Added to its architectural values is the interest of the movable property that is kept there: machinery specific to the activity, movable types and furniture that allowed the Foundry to maintain its activity for a century of existence, throughout which it supplied material to the main publishing and graphic companies of the time, including the Rivadeneira printing press, located in the nearby Cuesta de San Vicente, or the ABC newspaper.
Historic context
At the end of the 19th century, the development of the capital forced the Madrid City Council to propose an urban development project to extend the city limits, which became known as the Ensanche and was designed by Carlos María de Castro.
It was in this context of urban development when the Richard Gans company decided to establish its headquarters in the newly laid out neighborhood of Argüelles, next to the model prison, in an area and at a time in which various factories and industries coexisted.
Richard Gans (Karlsbad, 1850-Madrid, 1925) arrived in Spain in 1874 as a representative of several European typographic factories and specialized in the import of material for graphic arts in general and printing machines and types, in particular. A few years later, in 1881, after observing the growing demand for it, he decided to start his own production of these materials.
The building was originally three stories high in the first two bays, for residential use, and two stories in the interior area, for industrial use; It was built with a traditional brick factory, cast iron pillars on the ground floor and wooden framing on the upper floors.
The expansion with the acquisition of a new, larger building with access from Altamirano Street, which had a louvered steel structure and large skylights, represented a qualitative leap and the reorganization of the work spaces.
Its main activity consisted of the supply of graphic material to nearby companies, as well as the sale and repair of machinery. He had a private printing press, located on the ground floor of the building on Princesa Street, dedicated to printing the company's catalogs and other small orders. They stood out among their clients
the main publishing companies and the press of the moment.
During the Civil War the family and the company suffered hard blows such as the death of Manuel and Ricardo Gans, sons of the founder. Part of its heavy machinery was requisitioned for the manufacture of ammunition. After the war, Amalia Gans, daughter of the founder, took over the business, resuming its activity and becoming a reference in the Spanish panorama of graphic arts. In 1964, the last catalog of the company was published, which remained active until the 80s.
The Richard Gans Type Foundry
The Typographic Function declared as an Asset of Cultural Interest is made up of the Altamirano street building, which was intended for mechanical workshops and exhibition of machinery for the graphic arts and the Princess Street building, where the type foundry workshop, the raw materials warehouse and the type warehouse, the electroplating, stereotyping and engraving workshops were located, as well as the offices and the printing press.
On the other hand, a series of movable property associated with industrial activity among which are:
- Machinery for letterpress printing and binding: manual or automatic feeding printing presses for typographic forms of the typology known as minervas and flats, bookbinding presses, gluing machinery and heat stamping presses, among others.
- Typographic tools: photoengravings made with various techniques, movable type, matrices and typographic punches. Photo-etched material.
- Chibaletes and typographic furniture.
- Lithographic stones.
- Editorial and documentary collection: typographic catalogs of different kinds, account books and technical books on the company's activity and the production of its workshops.
Read more
Download >> DECREE 183/2023, of July 12, of the Government Council, by which the Richard Gans Typographic Foundry, of Madrid, is declared an Asset of Cultural Interest of the Community of Madrid, in the category of Asset of Industrial Interest.