Curta I Calculator As New. Germany, 1970.

Curta I mechanical Calculator made in Germany in 1970 and in amazing mint condition. This is one of the last calculators ever made by the company which closed its doors precisely that year. The machine that we can see in the images was made in September of 1970. The calculator is in mint condition and works like new. It looks as if it had never been removed from its case before. The matt black-enameled finish of the metal casing shows no scratches or flaws at all and all the pieces are intact, just like the printed decals. The levers and cranks work really fine, softly and fluidly; the use of this calculator becomes a real pleasure for any lover of mechanical antiques.The calculators cylindrical casing bears a series of vertical parallel grooves, each one with its plastic lever. These levers are used to establish the ciphers we are going to operate with. The user selects the cipher and turns the crank at the top. Then he or she selects another cipher and the operation to be performed (addition, subtraction, multiplication or division), and turns the crank again. The result of the operation will appear at the top of the calculator. In this particular model, the brand name CURTA is printed in white capital letters at the top of its cylindrical body. At the base of the machine we can see other inscriptions with the name of the inventor (Curtz Herzstark), the manufacturing companys name and location, the type (I) and the serial number 79691. The machine comes in its original case, perfectly preserved too.Its excellent condition and perfect working order turn this Curta I calculator into a real milestone of the 20th centurys mechanical engineering. Curta Calculators HistoryCurta calculators are mechanical machines with a simple and intellgent design, fully reliable. Until the arrival of electronic calculators in the 1970s, Curta machines were the most popular of all. Their design resulted from the talent of Curtz Herztark, an Austrian inventor with Jewish ancestry who found inspiration in Leibnizs arithmometer and Charles Thomass calculating machine.They are compact and cylindrical in shape, light and easy to carry: the can be hidden in the palm of the hand. Curtz Herztark developed the first Curta calculator in Vienna in 1903, but he did not patent his invention until 1938. That year, the Nazis forced him and his company to produce war material for their army. In 1943 Herztark was taken to Buchenwald concentration camp where he was encouraged to keep on with this calculator in order to give it to Hitler as a present to celebrate the Nazi victory in World War II. Nevertheless, in 1945 the American forces liberated the prisoners of Buchenwald and soon after Herztark founded his own calculator factory. Some years later, fearing that the Soviet government sent him to Russia, he moved to Austria. Curta kept on producing calculators for decades; Curtz Herztark always profited from the sales of his products until 1970, when electronic machines replaced mechanical calculators.