Fußseite

Fußseite is a term used in German typography and page design to denote the lower part of a page or the area that lies at the bottom margin. It is the counterpart to Kopfseite, which refers to the upper part of a page. In many modern publishing contexts, the more common term for this area is Fußzeile (footer), while Fußseite appears mainly in older texts, design plans, or as a less precise synonym.

In practice, the Fußseite describes where elements that belong to the bottom of the page are placed. Typical contents may include page numbers, dates, or short running lines that help identify and navigate the page. It is important to distinguish the Fußseite from Fußnote; footnotes are separate notes anchored to specific passages and are usually located at the bottom of the page, but are not the same as the general layout area referred to as the Fußseite.

Historically, the distinction between head (Kopfseite) and foot (Fußseite) was part of traditional typesetting and page design. Designers used these terms to plan margins, alignment, and the consistent appearance of headers and footers across chapters and sections. With contemporary software, the concept remains the same, but the terminology has shifted toward Fußzeile or Footer in most workflows and documentation.

See also Kopfzeile, Fußzeile, Fußnote, Seitenlayout, Typografie.