The calculator from the concentration camp (Swiss Press Text 2014, by Herbert Bruderer) - Swiss Press Award

Nordwestschweiz

Herbert Bruderer

The brilliant Austrian engineer Curt Herzstark invented the world's first and smallest mechanical pocket calculator, the Curta. Patented 75 years ago. The drawings were created in the Buchenwald concentration camp, and this technical marvel was produced in large numbers in Liechtenstein. Herzstark was cheated out of his life's work in the principality. Therefore, on the 25th anniversary of Curt Herzstark's death, extensive articles (with local relevance) appeared in two Liechtenstein newspapers, and an additional essay was published in the Aargauer Zeitung. See the email from Regula Bachofner dated November 26, 2013.