Zuse

Konrad Zuse (16 June 1910 – 18 December 1995) was a German engineer and computer pioneer. He designed and built several early programmable computers and contributed to foundational concepts in computer science. His work spanned mechanical, electromechanical, and electronic computing and influenced postwar developments.

Zuse began with the Z1 (1936–1938), a binary, mechanical calculator built in his workshop. He followed with the Z2 (1939), a hybrid device using relays and mechanical parts, and the Z3 (1941), the first fully functional, programmable computer, which used electromechanical relays and punched tape for programs and data.

During World War II, the Z3 was damaged in 1943 during bombing. After the war, Zuse continued development and founded Zuse KG to commercialize his devices. The Z4, completed after the war in 1945, was a further development and is considered the first commercial computer. It was later delivered to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) in 1950.

Zuse also designed Plankalkül (Plan Calculus), a high-level programming language created between 1943 and 1945 for engineering tasks and data structures. Although not implemented at the time, it anticipated features later common in software.

Zuse's work laid groundwork for programmable computing. He is regarded as a pioneering figure in computer science, and several institutions honor his contributions. He died in 1995 in Hünfeld, Germany.