Konrad Zuse developed the world's first mechanical and electromechanical computers called the Z1, Z2, and Z3. Written by Konrad's eldest son, Horst, this article features many hitherto unpublished photographs from Horst's private collection. In this installment we consider Konrad Zuse prior to 1934.

Konrad Zuse prior to 1934
Konrad Zuse was born in Berlin on June 22, 1910. In his early years Konrad lived with his parents and his sister Lieselotte below the roof of the Post office building in Hoyerswerda/Germany (Figure 2-1). In the near future, this building will become the Konrad Zuse Computer Museum.

Figure 2-1. Post office in Hoyerswerda/Germany (1928).

No ideas of computers or related problems can be found in Konrad's records prior to 1934. It is unquestionable that he was a creative student at school; he built cranes and made a lot of paintings. One example of his early paintings is a cartoon of the Schützenfest (riflemen's meeting) in Hoyerswerda from 1926 (Figure 2-2).

Figure 2-2. One of Konrad Zuse's cartoons showing the riflemen's meeting in Hoyerswerda (1926).

Konrad Zuse made his school leaving examination in 1928 in Hoyerswerda / Saxonia. During his study he changed his directions three times. Sometimes he said that he did not know what to study. Very often he said that he fluctuated between becoming an engineer and an artist. Figure 2-3 shows one of his the paintings he created for advertising in 1926.

Figure 2-3. A painting Konrad Zuse created to raise money to pay for his studies (1926).

With such paintings he earned additional money for his study. Finally he decided to study civil engineering, was awarded his diploma in 1935, and obtained a position with the Henschel Flugzeugwerke (Henschel Aviation Company) in Berlin in 1935. At this time he was not familiar with relays or even electrical engineering.

My father first started thinking about computers as early as 1934. This was prompted by the many calculations he had to perform as a civil engineer, Today it is clear to me that he really hated performing these calculations and he wanted to make things easier for engineers and scientists.

This is a little similar to Charles Babbage, who said in 1812: I wish to God these calculations had been performed by steam. However, my father did not become aware of Babbage's work until 1945/46.

In Part 3 we will consider Konrad Zuse's first ideas on computing (see also the Main Index for a quick and easy way to navigate the entire article).