the curta calculator

By 1938, Hertzstark had applied for patents for his new design and had made a couple of prototypes of the basic mechanism out of Bakelite plastic to demonstrate the principle. Unfortunately, that's as far as he got because in March 1938 the Anschluss took place and Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht marched over the border to annex Austria.

The inside of a Cu... See more

Already in 1926-27 while I was in sales, people said again and again, "Yes, that is nice, but isn't there anything smaller?" This was a time when there was a lot of advertising of the calculating machine. Everyone who was a technician, carried his slide rule. But for calculating, the equivalent didn't exist. People again and again said, "Does somet... See more

1/? the (abridged) story of Curt Herzstark, the brilliant Viennese engineer who invented an incredibly complex handheld mechanical calculator in the Buchenwald concentration camp

But he did have the plans and the prototypes of the Curta, which was a true marvel of design and construction – as much like a watch movement or the mechanism of a fine camera as it was a calculator. But could he find backers to manufacture it?

In 1945, that was a difficult question. At first glance, the Curta looks as much like a calculator as a po... See more

"I started to concentrate on possible solutions and at first, naturally, didn't get any further," said Hertzstark. "Later, I had an idea that I should look at everything backwards. I thought to myself, I'll pretend that I have already invented everything. What does this kind of machine really have to look like, so that someone could use it? It cann... See more