Oral history interview with Curt Herzstark, 1987 Sept. 10.

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Oral history interview with Curt Herzstark, 1987 Sept. 10.

Herzstark describes the disruption of the Austrian calculator industry by World War I, his involvement with the company after the war, competition with American companies, and his first invention, a mechanical memory for holding subtotals, in 1928. He discusses management of the company and work on his design for a hand held calculator. Herzstark describes the conversion of the company to gauge production for German tanks during World War II and his own arrest and internment at Buchenwald concentration camp. He recounts how he completed the design of the CURTA hand held calculator and the production of a prototype by Rheinmetallwerke at the end of the war. Herzstark discusses the purchase of his calculator design by the Prince of Liechtenstein, its manufacture by the CURTA Division of Contina, and its disappearance from the market in 1972.

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SNAC Resource ID: 7886046

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

Related Entities

There are 6 Entities related to this resource.

Buchenwald (Concentration camp)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6b67bkd (corporateBody)

Buchenwald concentration camp, one of the largest in Germany with its 130 satellite camps and units, was situated 5 miles north of Weimar in Thüringen. It was established in July 1937 when the first group of 149 mostly political prisoners and criminals was received. Some 238,980 prisoners passed through Buchenwald from 30 countries. 43,005 were killed or perished there....

Contina. CURTA Division.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61p4vhm (corporateBody)

Rheinmetallwerke (Firm : Germany)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jt6jhp (corporateBody)

Austrian Calculating Machine Manufacturing Company.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6k13zdj (corporateBody)

Tomash, Erwin

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62j8pvg (person)

Founder and president of Dataproducts Corporation. From the description of Oral history interview with Erwin Tomash, 1973 Mar. 14, 1973 Apr. 5. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 63288484 Erwin Tomash founded Data Products Corporation in 1962. The firm's name changed to Dataproducts Corporation in 1974. From the description of Erwin Tomash Collection of Dataproducts Corporation Records 1962-1982. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). Wo...

Herzstark, Curt

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6zg94qt (person)

Austrian inventor and manufacturer of calculators. From the description of Oral history interview with Curt Herzstark, 1987 Sept. 10. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 63306967 Curt Herzstark was born in Vienna, Austria on January 26, 1902. His father, Samuel Jakob Herzstark established, along with a partner, the first calculating machine factory in Vienna, Austria, the Austrian Calculating Machines Manufacturing Company, in 1905-1906. After finishi...