The German Bible Society commissioned Professor Kurt Weidemann to design a typeface for the printing of a bible that was mutually sponsored by the Catholic and Protestant church authorities; the typeface was called Biblica.

Because Bibles need to fit a large amount of text into a relatively small number of pages, this design is legible at small sizes and economical in its space requirements. Weidemann based his design on the Venetian types because the wedge-shaped bracketed serifs, even stroke contrast, and distinctive character shapes satisfied his demands for beauty and legibility.

When the International Typeface Corporation produced the family in 1983, the name was changed to ITC Weidemann.