Druckort

Druckort is a term used in bibliographic records and imprint statements to indicate the place where a printed work was produced. It refers to the town or city, and sometimes the country, where the printing took place and may be listed alongside or separately from the publisher’s location. The term is primarily used in German-language cataloging and print history.

In historical books the imprint often includes both a Druckort (printing place) and a Verlagsort (publisher’s place). The Druckort denotes the actual printing workshop or printing house, which could differ from the publisher’s address. In many modern cataloging practices the distinction is not always emphasized, and a single place may serve for both printing and publishing, but the historical distinction remains relevant for provenance and bibliographic surveys.

Cataloging practice typically treats Druckort as part of the imprint information. In German bibliographic standards and in ISBD-based descriptions, the place associated with the printing activity appears with other imprint data such as publisher and date. In older records, a book’s imprint line might explicitly read something like “Druckort: Amsterdam,” sometimes in combination with “Verlagsort” or a general imprint that serves for both printing and publishing.

Examples of Druckort appear on many early printed works where the printing location is a distinctive identifier of the work’s origin, especially when the publisher’s address differs or when multiple centers contributed to the production process. The term is of particular value to historians, bibliographers, and librarians researching the provenance and distribution of prints.

Today, the concept remains relevant for historical bibliographies and metadata in German-language catalogs. In English-language interfaces the exact label Druckort may be replaced by equivalents such as place of printing or imprint location, but the underlying information about where a work was produced continues to be part of bibliographic records.