Abstract (eng)
The focus of this thesis lies on the life and deeds of Johannes Gutenberg and especially on his invention of the printing press. The following discussion deals with the revolutionary aspects and consequences of this technological advance. This work also examines the preconditions and requirements for the inventive, the innovative and disseminatory phase of his pioneering invention. Furthermore, the processes of replacing and supplanting the established manner of production of books by typesetting are elucidated.
In the following, a glimpse into the manufacturing and establishment of some incunables from vari-ous domains until 1500 is provided. Another topic that is being addressed is that the means of ab-sorbing knowledge through books no longer just favored a small elite of erudites, but was made accessible to an increasing number of beneficiaries through typographic printing. The numerous advantages of typesetting are evident in the reduction of cost and time needed for the production and distribution of prints made with the new technology.
Due to the conditions at the time, the printing of books was slow to establish itself in Vienna. In this piece of work, special consideration was given to the printing of books via typesetting in the residential university town of Vienna up to the year 1500. The first traces of book printing in Vienna can be found from 1482 onwards. Viennese printers operating in Vienna between 1482 and 1500 (1520) are tabulated. Out of these, the works from the first permanent Viennese printer Johann Winterburger are examined in more detail.