Otto Hupp

Who was Otto Hupp?

Otto Hupp was a German graphical artist. His main working area was heraldry, yet he also worked as a typeface designer, creating commercial symbols and metal works.

Hupp was born in Düsseldorf, Rhenish Prussia, as the fourth of five sons of the engraver Carl Heinrich Hupp. His father made him learn engraving as his profession, and, shortly after finishing his education, he moved to Munich in 1878. Since 1891 till his death Hupp lived in the suburb Oberschleißheim. From the painter Rudolf Seitz he learned many styles of painting, and when he met the architect Gabriel von Seidl he received several contracts to paint wall and ceiling frescos.

Hupp's main field of work was heraldry, painting more than 6,000 coats of arms and writing books on heraldry. His Wappen und Siegel der deutschen Städte, Flecken und Dörfer book series was started in 1895, but of the originally ten planned volumes only five were finished. 3,300 of his paintings of coats of arms were published as a collecting set from the coffee company Kaffee HAG from 1913–18 and 1926–38. This publication helped to make heraldry better known to the general public. Another important heraldic publication by Hupp were the Münchener Kalender, of which 51 issues were published from 1885–1936. Along with painting existing coats of arms, he also created many drafts for municipalities which were applying for new arms. Possibly his most important coat of arms was the 1923 version for the state of Bavaria, which, however, was replaced with a new version after World War II.