X-Nico

4 unusual facts about C. Lorenz AG


C. Lorenz AG

Military products from Lorenz during WWII included land-based and airborne radars, two-way radio sets, wire recorders, radio tubes, and Germany’s most secure communications device, the Lorenz cipher machine.

Placed on the commercial market as the Enigma machine, it was adopted by the German Navy and Army in the 1920s The Enigma, however had deficiencies, and the German Army High Command asked Lorenz to develop a new cipher machine that would allow communication by radio in extreme secrecy.

During the 1950s, Lorenz recovered strongly and had several branches: Berlin-Tempelhof (radio communications and broadcasting research); Esslingen am Neckar (radio tubes); Landshut (electrical machines, broadcasting equipment, and signal systems); Pforzheim I (research and model workshop for small-scale transmitting equipment); Pforzheim II (telex factory); and Schaub Pforzheim (radio and television receivers).

Called the Schlüsselzusatz (cipher attachment), the Lorenz cipher was an in-line addition to their standard teleprinter.



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