Interesting, where is that?

Wikipedia has an example of a street sign with "ſs": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Waldstra%C3%9FePirna.JPG

And of course there are the street signs in Berlin which use a very weird ß, but it's still an ß as opposed to a "ſz" combination: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Berliner_Stra%C3%9Fe.JPG

I absolutely love the typographical choices used for Berlin's street signs. There are multiple variants but I'm talking about the posted one. It also preserves the old tz-ligature[0], the vertical descender on lower-case Y[1], as well as both the ch- and the ck-ligature which (being an antiqua font) are mostly realized in terms of careful kerning [2, 3, 4].

The font is both pleasing, readable, breathable, and has these nods to Germanic typographical heritage. It's really lovely. Among my favorite details pertaining to living in Berlin.

[0] https://www.xn--untergrund-blttle-2qb.ch/fotos/Strassenschil...

[1] https://live.staticflickr.com/3730/9668177465_bde765c591_h.j...

[2] https://fhxb-museum.de/xmap/media/S16/T1815/image/fhxb_jh_k0...

[3] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/M%...

[4] http://www.w-volk.de/museum/encke01.jpg

The berlin "ſz" has a fascinating history of letters, typesetting, and economics!

First off, it's strange that the German letter "ß", a ligature of two "S" forms, is named "Eszett", which is the letters "S" and "Z". This is because way back in Middle German, "sz" was the more common form. [0]

When moveable type was invented, Italian and Latin (and sometimes English) needed the "ſs" ligature, while only German needed the "ſz" ligature. Thus most typefaces only included the "ſs", so when printers needed to print German, they would substitute the readily available "ſs" for "ſz" rather than buy a new font. (This was further complicated by the dispute within Germany about whether to use Fraktur or Antiqua typefaces [1])

This practical economic decision led to the "ſs" ligature becoming standardized, turning into the modern letter "ß", but still called "Eszett"!

Berlin street signs are fascinating as they (alone?) maintain the old-school "correct" "ſz" form.

Most Germans seem to never have noticed that the name of "ß" is wrong. But similarly, English rarely notice that "W" is also named wrong--it is formed of a double-V not a double-U!

- [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9F#Origin - [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiqua%E2%80%93Fraktur_disput...

The Berlin ſʒ is indeed what parent was referring to....unless he meant Bonn, where a very similar font is used. Would be interesting to know if a font like this is used elsewhere too.