Proficiency and efficiency: Why German spelling changed in Early Modern times*

In Late Medieval and Early Modern times, the modernization of printing and the increasing proficiency of related crafts had an impact on spelling. The challenges of microtypography, especially of text alignment, led to a bundle of new spelling variants that annoyed early grammatography. Nevertheless, the conflict-ridden working conditions in the printing shops and the needs of the market appear to be the decisive factors, initiating novel spelling strategies that were aimed at accessing new consumer groups. A development was set in motion that supported unskilled readers, applying noun capitalization, punctuation, and syllabic spellings to assist in the process of decoding.