Konrad Ernst Otto Zuse (1910 - 1995)

Born 22 Jun 1910 in Deutsch-Wilmersdorf, Brandenburg, Preußen, Deutschland

Ancestors

Husband of Gisela (Brandes) Zuse — married Jan 1945 in Berlin, Deutschland

Died 18 Dec 1995 at age 85 in Hünfeld, Fulda, Hessen, Deutschland

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Biography

Konrad Zuse is Notable.

Konrad Zuse was a German civil engineer, inventor, and computer pioneer. His greatest achievement was the world's first programmable computer; the functional program-controlled Turing-complete Z3 became operational in May 1941. Thanks to this machine and its predecessors, Zuse has often been regarded as the inventor of the modern computer.^[1]

Konrad Ernst Otto Zuse was born on 22 Jun 1910, the son of the Postsekretär (postal clerk) Ernst Wilhelm Albert Zuse and his wife Maria Wilhelmina Alwine (Crohn) Zuse in Deutsch-Wilmersdorf, Province Brandenburg, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire, and baptized on 21 Aug 1910 in the Auenkirche in Deutsch-Wilmersdorf.^[2]

In 1912, his family moved to Braunsberg (East Prussia), where his father was a postal clerk. Konrad attended the Collegium Hosianum in Braunsberg. In 1923, the family moved to Hoyerswerda, where Konrad graduated from the Realgymnasium with the Abitur in 1928.^[1] He enrolled at the Technische Hochschule Berlin-Charlottenburg, studying engineering, architecture, and civil engineering, graduating in 1935.^[3]

After graduating, Zuse initially worked as a structural engineer at the Henschel aircraft factory in Schönefeld near Berlin. Beginning in 1935, he experimented with the construction of computers in his parents' apartment in Berlin and produced his first attempt, the Z1, a binary mechanical calculator with limited programmability that never worked well due to insufficient mechanical precision. In 1937, Zuse submitted two patents that anticipated a von Neumann architecture.^[1]

Between 1939 and 1945, Zuse's work was partially funded by the German (Nazi) government. During this time, he built the Z3, the first fully operational programmable binary computer, using relays.^[3] While working on his Z4 computer, Zuse realized that programming in machine code was too complicated. He started working on a PhD thesis, mainly on "Plankalkül" ("Plan Calculus"), the first high-level programming language, and the first computer chess engine as an example.^[1]

In January 1945, Konrad Zuse married Gisela Brandes in Berlin. They had three sons and two daughters.^[3][4]

Towards the end of World War II, Zuse escaped from Berlin to the Allgäu and was able to take the parts of the unfinished Z4 with him.^[5] The Z4 was his only computer that survived the bombings of World War II.^[6][7] It was the basis for the Zuse KG, which was founded in Neukirchen, Hünfeld, Hesse, by Zuse and two partners in 1949. The Z4 was sold to the ETH Zürich in July 1950, making it the world's first reliably functioning commercially traded computer.^[1][5]

Zuse continued constructing computers and working on "Plankalkül". In 1956, serial production of computers began with the Z11, followed in 1958 by the Z22, which marked the switch to tube technology and a memory based on magnetic storage, and just one year later by the Z23, the first Zuse computer with transistors.^[1][5] He traveled to the United States several times, including in 1951^[8] and in 1962.^[9]

In 1964, Zuse sold his shares of his company, which could not keep up with the fierce international competition anymore.^[6] He then worked as a consultant.^[3] After retiring, he focused on his hobby of painting.^[1]

He passed away 18 Dec 1995 in Hünfeld, Landkreis Fulda, Hesse, Federal Republic of Germany, and was buried at Neuer Friedhof Hünfeld.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6} English Wikipedia article on Konrad Zuse
2. ↑ Taufbuch Auenkirche Deutsch-Wilmersdorf No. 804/1910, found in Taufen 1909-1911, Archion, Bild 236
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} German Wikipedia article on Konrad Zuse
4. ↑ "United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKWG-3CGQ : accessed 4 February 2022), Konrad Zuse, New Jersey, United States, 20 Dec 1995; from "Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 - Today)," database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing Press of Atlantic City, The, born-digital text.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} https://www.vdi-nachrichten.com/technik/technikgeschichte/12-mai-1941-als-konrad-zuse-mit-der-z3-den-computer-erfand/
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} http://www.horst-zuse.homepage.t-online.de/kz-bio.html
7. ↑ http://www.horst-zuse.homepage.t-online.de/hinterstein%20und%20hopferau.html
8. ↑ "New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24YG-K4W : 2 March 2021), Konrad Zuse, 1951; citing Immigration, New York City, New York, United States, NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
9. ↑ Name: Konrad Zuse. Nationality: German. Arrival Age: 51. Birth Date: 22 Jun 1910. Birth Place: Berlin. Arrival Date: 11 Feb 1962. Arrival Place: New York, New York, USA. Airline: LH. Flight Number: 400/11. Source Citation: The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; NAI Number: 2848504; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series Number: A3998; NARA Roll Number: 637
10. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #235575285
11. ↑ Tombstone at Wikipedia (accessed 2 Feb 2022)
12. ↑ Osthessen News: Konrad ZUSE war ein genialer Erfinder, Unternehmer und Künstler. 18 Dec 2015
13. ↑ fuldainfo.de: Erinnerung an Computerpionoer Konrad Zuse. 18 Dec 2020

• Wikidata: Item Q60093
• Zuse, Konrad. Vorfahren und Eltern — Erste Kindheitserinnerungen — Schulzeit — Metropolis — Abitur. In: Der Computer — Mein Lebenswerk. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, 1986, p. 1 ff.,
• http://www.konrad-zuse-akademie-hoyerswerda.de/index.php/forschung/angewandte-kommunikation/moderation-und-rhetorik-in-arbeitsgruppen/2-uncategorised.html
• medienwerkstatt Wissenskarten: Ehrungen des Computer-Pioniers Konrad Zuse
• https://www.eduard-rhein-stiftung.de/en/awardee/prof-dr-h-c-mult-konrad-zuse/
• "Arizona, Payson, Obituaries, 1948-2008", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2WQ-G96P : 26 October 2019), Mr Konrad Zuse, 1995.
• https://www.einegrossefamilie.de/egf/abfrage.pl?aktion=person_zeigen&person_id=11714&sprache=de