Zuse kg

Biography

Konrad Zuse was brought up in Braunsberg, East Prussia where he attended the Humanistisches Gymnasium. He entered the Technische Hochschule of Berlin- Charlottenburg in 1927 where he took courses in civil engineering.

It was these studies in engineering which led Zuse to become interested in developing a mechanical device for calculating around 1934. He found that he had to spend many hours [4]:-

... working through the long statics calculations which are so important in the training of civil engineers...

After graduating Zuse joined the Henschel Aircraft Company where he worked on stress analysis.

Konrad zuse z1

In particular he studied the stresses caused by vibrations of an aircraft's wing. His work again involved a great deal of calculation and so, to help him perform these calculations, Zuse built his Z1 computer in his parents living room.

He wrote:-

I started in 1934, working independently and without knowledge of other developments going on around me. In fact,