Identifying the font on the 1915 Salvation Army HQ in Switzerland

[Guest]

I need help identifying the serife font on the building of the Headquarters of the Swiss Salvation Army: "HEILSARMEE HAUPTQUARTIER" (on the top left it says "Armée du Salut" and on the top right, barely visible, "Esercito della Salvezza"). The Q, R and M are quite distinct. Overall it has a relatively soft appearance in its serifs. It seems the letters for "HEILSARMEE" are wider than for "HAUPTQUARTIER".

The building was opened in 1915 in Berne, Switzerland. So the font must have been in use around that time. I think there might not be an exact match out there as it could have been custom made. But are there fonts that come close to it and capture the style and era? Your help is much appreciated 🙂

Bonus points if you could also identify the Art Deco-ish geometric font in the second picture, above the door: "HAUSEINGANG LAUPENSTR. 5"? Again, this might have been custom made but is there anything close to it?

[Ralf Herrmann]

That’s all lettering made just for this use. No fonts in the modern sense were used. 

[Guest]

That's what I was thinking. But is there a font that comes close to it? Or what are fonts that this signage draws inspiration from?

[Ralf Herrmann]

download at MyFonts

 

[Guest]

Hi thanks, I did some further research and found it's more of a French Rennaisance Antiqua (depending on your classification system).