CURTA Literature, 1928, 1944-1954, 1986-1989. Finding Aid.

Summary Information

Title: CURTA literature.
Dates: 1928, 1944-1954, 1986-1989.
Creator: Herzstark, Curt
Extent: 1 box (0.17 cubic feet)
Language: German, English, French
Collection Number: CBI 180
Abstract:

The collection consists of published articles on the CURTA, as well as its inventor, Curt Herzstark. Other materials include advertisements, brochures and manuals for the CURTA, and copied photographs of the “Lilliput,” the precursor to the CURTA.

Repository: University of Minnesota Libraries. Charles Babbage Institute.

Access and Use

Acquisition Information:

Materials acquired in conjunction with oral history interview of Curt Herzstark, conducted in 1987.

Access Restrictions:

Access to the collection is unrestricted.

Copyright:

All material in the collection is covered by a prior copyright. Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provisions of the copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).

Preferred Citation:

CURTA Literature (CBI 180), Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Biographical Note

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 finishing school, Herzstark began working at his father’s company and then went to work AstraWerke in Germany to gain experience in production of adding machines. After about a year in Germany, Herzstark returned to the family factory in Vienna. He began to manage the factory beginning in 1930.

By 1937, based on requests from factory customers, Herzstark had preliminary plans for a hand held mechanical calculating machine. From 1938-1943, the family factory was contracted to make precision gauges for the German military and were banned from continuing their construction and distribution of calculating machines.

In 1943, Herzstark was arrested and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp, where he worked in the mechanics factory as a technician. While in prison, Herzstark was allowed to begin to design his hand held calculating machine, the CURTA.

After the war, Herzstark began construction on prototypes of the CURTA. He was appointed as technical director of the Contina AG factory in Liechtenstein and worked to produce the CURTA, which was first introduced at a trade fair in 1949. Herzstark left Contina AG in 1952, but the company still produced the CURTA until 1972, when the electronic calculator replaced mechanical calculators. Curt Herzstark died on October 27, 1988.

For a more complete biographical sketch of Curt Herzstark, see a transcript of his oral history interview conducted in 1987 at http://www.cbi.umn.edu/oh/display.phtml?id=82 [English] or http://www.cbi.umn.edu/oh/display.phtml?id=311 [German].

Collection Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of published articles on the CURTA, as well as its inventor, Curt Herzstark. Other materials include advertisements, brochures and manuals for the CURTA, and copied photographs of the “Lilliput,” the precursor to the CURTA. The bulk of the materials in the collection are in German, with a few in French and English.

Subject Terms

Index Terms

• This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
• Herzstark, Curt
• Contina. CURTA Division.
• Calculators.
• CURTA calculator.
• Office equipment and supplies industry.

Box and Folder List

Location		Title
Box 1		Contina Bureau-und Rechenmaschinenfabrik AG Mauren. Principality of Liechtenstein (via Switzerland), undated.  Box 1, Folder 1
		"Curt Herzstark und seine Taschenrechenmaschine Curta" by Peter Kradolfer, 1989.  Box 1, Folder 2
		"Curt Herzstark und seine Taschenrechenmachine Curta: Zweiter Teil: Uber Bau und Funktion der Curta," Peter Kradolfer, 1989.  Box 1, Folder 3
		"Curt Herzstark und seine Taschenrechenmachine Curta: Zweiter Teil: Uber Bau und Funktion der Curta," 1989. 1989.  Box 1, Folder 4
		"Das Rechnen: wird zum KINDERSPIEL mit der" [Calculator Ad], undated.  Box 1, Folder 5
		"Der erste <<Taschenrechner>> und sien Erfinder". Von Fritz Jorn, 1989.  Box 1, Folder 6
		"Erfolgsrezepte Unserer Zeit: Er schuf die rechnende Mocca-Muhle," 1954.  Box 1, Folder 7
		"Herzstark Multimator: Die Hochleistungs Vielzahlwerksmachine" [Calculator Ad], 1928.  Box 1, Folder 8
		La machine a calculer universelle de poche: Systeme C. Herzstark, undated.  Box 1, Folder 9
		La nouvelle petite machine a calculer universelle: Systeme C. Herzstark, undated.  Box 1, Folder 10
		"Lists der an die Contina A.G. Ubergebenen Herzstark-Patente" [CURTA Patents List], undated.  Box 1, Folder 11
		Mathematical Handbook: An Aid to Every Day Figuring Problems, Tables, Formulas Arithmetical Rules, undated.  Box 1, Folder 12
		"Mechanischer Rechner wird 50," Von Werner Hurlimann, 1986.  Box 1, Folder 13
		"Neue konstruktive Wege im Rechenmaschinenbau," Von Prof. Dr. Larl Holecek, 1951.  Box 1, Folder 14
		Pictures of "Liliput,” Curt Herzstark, 1944.  Box 1, Folder 15
		"Programme fur Berechnung von Wurzeln, Polynomen und Potenzreihen, mit Handrechenmaschinen". Von Dr. H. Schilt, Biel, 1951.  Box 1, Folder 16
		"Roboterdame beruhigt schwache Kopirechner: Kleinste Rechenmaschine der Welt erregt Auisehen -- Auch Steuern haben ihr Gutes," undated.  Box 1, Folder 17
		World Famous Curta Brochure/Warranty, undated.  Box 1, Folder 18
		"Your Curta Calculator and The 4 arithmetical rules" [Instruction Book], undated.  Box 1, Folder 19