Heinz Nixdorf

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Heinz Nixdorf

Heinz Nixdorf (born April 9, 1925 in Paderborn ; † March 17, 1986 in Hanover ) was a German computer pioneer and entrepreneur .

In 1952, at the age of 27, Nixdorf founded his first computer company as a penniless physics student from economically modest circumstances, which he later led as the owner of Nixdorf AG to an international and globally active electronics company with a turnover of almost four billion Deutschmarks . In the emerging computer age, his small computers pushed into a niche in the market and were able to hold their own against the mainframe computers of the competition. Nixdorf was thus one of the founding entrepreneurs who stood as a symbol for the German economic miracle from the 1950s to 1970s . Nixdorf was an ambitious athlete and known for the qualified training of his employees. He died of a heart attack in 1986 at the CeBIT computer fair in Hanover.

Early childhood and adolescence

Nixdorf was born in Paderborn on April 9, 1925, the oldest of five children . The father Walter Nixdorf came from Torgau in Saxony , where the family moved shortly after Nixdorf was born. She did not return to Paderborn until 1931. Nixdorf was six years old and started school in a Catholic elementary school . Even here he showed a talent for mathematics and science.

The father worked as a business traveler and only got a permanent position with the Reichsbahn in Paderborn in 1939 . Due to the father's temporary unemployment in the 1920s and 1930s, Nixdorf's youth were marked by material poverty. In his memoirs he formulated:

“But the conditions of 1935 are still in my memory in essential points. At that time, my father was still unemployed and as the eldest of five children I could not go to high school. I cried because I wasn't allowed to go to high school. "

This experienced financial hardship due to unemployment also shaped the later entrepreneur Nixdorf, who gladly supplemented his success figures with the creation of new jobs. Only a scholarship due to his good school performance made it possible to attend teacher training institutions in Vallendar near Koblenz from 1939 to 1942 , then in Boppard on the Rhine and finally in Alfeld (Leine) . Nixdorf, however, felt restricted, he didn't want to become a teacher. However, his mother and teachers were not convinced. Ultimately, Nixdorf wrote a petition to the Ministry of Culture in Berlin. From there he received permission in 1941 to attend the Reismann-Gymnasium in Paderborn. Nixdorf had prevailed. In 1943 he joined the Reich Labor Service and was then drafted into the Air Force School on the Ith in the Weser Uplands. In the same year Nixdorf became a member of the NSDAP . This is where Nixdorf's sporting talent and his joy in competition came to fruition and he got all three glider licenses. The Luftwaffenschule was closed in 1944, and Nixdorf joined the Hermann Göring Panzer Division . Towards the end of the war he was able to evade capture after the defeat of his division in Bohemia and returned to Paderborn after the end of the war in May 1945. His father had died on the Eastern Front in 1944. Therefore, at the age of twenty and the oldest male member of the family, Nixdorf had to help feed the family of six by working in agriculture. It was not until the summer of 1946 that he was able to take the Abitur at the Reismann Gymnasium.

education

With the help of a scholarship, Nixdorf studied applied physics from 1947 at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and attended seminars in business administration . In 1951 he joined the development department of the German subsidiary of the American office machine manufacturer Remington Rand Corp. a job as a student trainee , where he worked on the development of simple counting devices, so-called multiplication and balancing works , and learned basic knowledge about the construction of these simple computers. Nixdorf got to know the physicist and head of the development department Walter Sprick and became his assistant. When Sprick left the company because Remington no longer supported his developments, he left his inventions and his patent to Nixdorf. From this, Nixdorf developed systems such as the electron totalizer and the electron multiplier.

Entrepreneurial career

Company formation

Heinz Nixdorf in his laboratory for pulse technology in the basement of the RWE administration in Essen, 1952

Nixdorf was convinced by the concept of his computer based on electron tubes and presented it to several large companies in North Rhine-Westphalia. Thanks to his enthusiastic manner, he then succeeded in convincing the head of the punched card department (" Hollerith department ", see also: tabulation machine ) at RWE ( Rheinisch-Westfälische Elektrizitätswerk AG ) in Essen that he should build a calculating machine with electron tubes supported. He received 30,000 marks from RWE (at that time a simple row house was available for 50,000 marks), but his former teacher Walter Sprick had to vouch for the sum. Nixdorf dropped out of his physics studies in the ninth semester. With the start-up capital and the development contract from RWE, he was able to found the Heinz Nixdorf Laboratory for Impulse Technology (LFI) in Essen in 1952 , which was located in the basement of the RWE administration.

As his first employee, he hired the trained radio and television technician Alfred Wierzoich for development on September 1, 1952 . They were financially supported by a friend with a further DM 10,000. At the beginning of 1954, the first electronic computer based on electron tubes was delivered to RWE's accounting department. The so-called ES could process data stored on punch cards and was the first tube computer built in Germany . In quick succession there were further developments that were used again and again at RWE. The young company now developed in great strides, so that as early as 1954 Nixdorf was forced to expand the space capacities and to rent additional rooms near RWE. With that he began to break away from the close cooperation with RWE. His staff grew, but Nixdorf did not hire a development engineer until 1958. Until then, he had always been responsible for the developments himself. His products expanded from calculating machines for RWE to a supplier of electronic calculators.

At that time, world companies like IBM dominated the information technology market with mainframes . Nixdorf saw his small calculating machines as an opportunity to support medium-sized companies with booking and calculating machines. His colleague Sprick from his time as a working student helped him with the development and later. Despite frequent financial bottlenecks, Nixdorf succeeded in establishing his company and its products on the market. His company became a supplier of electronic arithmetic units for important office machine manufacturers such as Exacta Büromaschinen GmbH, from 1963 the Wanderer-Werke in Cologne and the Compagnie des Machines Bull in Paris.

New location in Paderborn

In 1959 Nixdorf relocated the company headquarters to his hometown Paderborn . Here he had more space to expand his company further. In addition, he was able to use the lower wage level and the larger pool of labor in the Westphalian medium-sized town. Nixdorf began building his company there in 1961 with 50 employees.

The Nixdorf System 820 from 1968

The laboratory for pulse technology was still a supplier who was dependent on its customers. When the Wanderer-Werke received fewer orders, while the French manufacturer Bull had financial difficulties and requested far fewer devices from the laboratory for impulse technology, the laboratory ran into serious difficulties due to the overcapacity. Nixdorf needed new customers and a new product. During this phase he received an offer from Kienzle-Apparate GmbH in Villingen to take over the development department there if Kienzle could integrate the laboratory for pulse technology into their company at the same time. At this time, Nixdorf was fighting for independence: "Taking a defeat was pretty much the worst thing there was."

Nixdorf got Otto Müller , a development engineer, who he noticed at a Hanover trade fair. He was given the opportunity to implement his own idea of ​​an independent computer and develop it. But Nixdorf hesitated when it came to implementation. He doubted whether Müller was up to the task. Nixdorf himself did not understand anything about microprogram control. It was only when Otto Müller's wife intervened that Nixdorf made the decision for the new desktop computer .

In 1965 the desk calculator, the Wanderer Logatronic, was presented at the Hanover Fair . The Logatronic, designed according to modular principles, was the first small computer based on semiconductors . Technically, this was a revolution. The Nixdorf company further developed this from 1967 to the Nixdorf Universal Computer Nixdorf System 820 . This small computer had a magnetic core memory, an integrated keyboard and a typewriter for data output. It was freely programmable and established Nixdorf's reputation as a pioneer in decentralized electronic data processing . In addition to the Wanderer factories, it was also produced by Kienzle-Apparate GmbH in Villingen and Ruf accounting Hegnauer & Heilmann in Karlsruhe, each of which sold it throughout Germany under its own name. Encouraged by the success, Nixdorf began to build up its own sales network at the same time in 1967 and was thus able to bring its products to customers very well in medium-sized commercial enterprises. Nixdorf had found its niche in the market and developed from a supplier to an independent manufacturer of calculating machines.

Foundation of Nixdorf Computer AG

Introduction of the shares of Nixdorf Computer AG on the Düsseldorf Stock Exchange in 1984. In conversation with Wilhelm Christians (Chairman of the Deutsche Bank Supervisory Board), Herbert Zapp (Member of the Board of Deutsche Bank), Heinz Nixdorf and Gerhard Schmidt (Chairman of the NCAG Supervisory Board).
Company logo of Nixdorf Computer AG

In April 1968, Nixdorf took over the majority of the shares in Wanderer AG. The purchase price of eight million D-Marks could largely be withdrawn from the reserves previously formed. On October 1st of the same year, the former Wanderer factories and the Laboratory for Impulse Technology (LFI) merged to form Nixdorf Computer AG (NCAG) based in Paderborn.

With the takeover of the Wanderer-Werke, Nixdorf no longer only had efficient development and production departments, but at one stroke had a sales structure covering all of Germany. In addition, know-how in precision engineering and electromechanical areas was adopted.

United States

After the Wanderer takeover, Nixdorf traveled to the USA. He was looking for new sales opportunities and found a market for electronic mini-computers for use in banks, supermarkets, industrial companies and health insurance companies. This was a market segment that the large American computer manufacturers felt was too small and ignored.

The production order was placed with Wanderer-Werke by the American office machine company Victor Comptometer from Chicago, a specialist in calculating machines. It was a major order for 10,000 devices worth 100 million German marks . Wanderer under the new owner Nixdorf had to expand production.

An automatic calculator the size of a typewriter was delivered, named Conti, which handled all four types of arithmetic up to twelve decimal places. It was the second development after the "Nixdorf System 820" from Nixdorf, which took the view:

"Computers have to be so small that they can fit in the lower left drawer of an accountant's desk."

Victor Comptometer was then taken over by Nixdorf Computer and thus Nixdorf also had an American subsidiary. With this takeover in America, Nixdorf succeeded in gaining a foothold in the American market against the dominance of American IT companies.

In addition to the domestic expansion of the sales network, Nixdorf Computer AG was already represented in 22 countries worldwide in 1972. The Paderborn location was continuously expanded in the following period. On the former Untere Frankfurter Weg, today's Heinz-Nixdorf-Ring, modern production facilities were built from 1974 onwards, which had to be expanded almost annually due to the company's success. The head office was built in the Paderauen - today Heinz-Nixdorf-Aue - on Fürstenallee and expanded again in 1985.

Market leader in Germany

1970 began the most economically successful period for Nixdorf Computer AG . In the 1970s it became the market leader in Germany in the field of medium-sized data technology and the fourth largest computer manufacturer in Europe with production facilities in Germany, Ireland , Spain , the USA and Singapore . From 1975 Nixdorf Computer AG brought out a new generation of data acquisition and data processing systems: the 88xx series. In addition to the data processing sector, Nixdorf Computer AG had continuously opened up other market sectors since 1971.

One sector was electronic cash register systems and banking terminals. In Sweden, the largest data processing network at the time could be implemented with bank terminals from Nixdorf. The other sector was the field of data acquisition systems, whereby data was stored on electromagnetic tapes and no longer on punch cards as before. In 1978, one year after the company's 25th anniversary, total sales exceeded the billion mark mark for the first time. At the time, Nixdorf Computer AG employed over 10,000 people worldwide.

In 1985 sales rose to almost four billion D-Marks and profits amounted to 172 million D-Marks. At that time, 23,300 people were employed in 44 countries. The following year was overshadowed by the death of the company's founder. On March 17, 1986 Nixdorf succumbed to the consequences of a heart attack at the Cebit computer fair . He was succeeded in April 1986 by Nixdorf's preferred sales manager, Klaus Luft.

Nixdorf as an employer

"Before heaven comes life on earth, it is important to build a social society."

- Heinz Nixdorf (1986)

Nixdorf has invested a lot of personal commitment and money in the practical training of its apprentices. In 1969, he set up an in-house vocational school in order to adequately train the apprentices for his company. In his opinion, young people went "to the public vocational school and learn (there) the technology from the day before yesterday". The vocational school was placed on the site in such a way that visitors always had to go through the production halls first. In this way, the connection to real working life was promoted. The training center for information processing professions (bib) emerged from the sponsoring association in 1972 .

Furthermore, according to a directive from Nixdorf, physical education was compulsory for trainees from 1978. He released her from training for two hours - a consequence of Nixdorf's first heart attack in the same year. The decathlete Kurt Bendlin , winner of the bronze medal at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City , was available as a contact person in the field of sports, personally mediated by Nixdorf . In 1984, Nixdorf set up the Ahorn Sports Park on the premises of Nixdorf Computer AG to give the workforce the opportunity to do sports . The sports park was also available to the Paderborn citizens and can still be used free of charge today. For Nixdorf, "Investing in people was more important than in machines."

He organized his company as decentrally as possible in order to give employees a chance to develop their own skills and to take on responsibility.

As an entrepreneur, Nixdorf first shared its employees in the company's profits in 1972, first in profit letters, then in employee shares. In 1977, 102,000 preferred shares were issued to employees free of charge for the company's 25th anniversary . Each employee then received two to four shares in the company each year.

Konrad Zuse and Heinz Nixdorf

Konrad Zuse with Heinz Nixdorf visiting the Paderborn plant, 1984.

Konrad Zuse was a frequent guest in Paderborn near Nixdorf. The relationship between the two most important German computer pioneers was characterized by mutual respect and goodwill. The two company owners were not competitors in the market. Zuse's computers were primarily used in the technical-scientific area - at times also economically successful. On the other hand, Nixdorf, who was 15 years his junior, focused exclusively on the commercial sector from the start. A cooperation project between the two companies, the takeover of Zuse software on Nixdorf computers, failed because Nixdorf asked Zuse to take delivery of Nixdorf computers, which would have corresponded to annual production at Zuse KG.

Nixdorf as an athlete

“A life without enthusiasm for competition and competition with the aim of achieving better and best performance” could not be imagined by Nixdorf. This motto led him into sporting competitions from his youth and accompanied him for a lifetime. In his youth, his athletic ambitions had focused on athletics and he proudly emphasized this in an interview:

“Like my father, I was the district champion in the middle distance over 1500 meters. My brother was a Westphalian champion and only now - a few weeks ago - the circle record over 800 meters, which my nephew held for 15 years, was broken. So for 60 years my family was number one here in the middle distance. "

When he decided on a sport, he did it with perseverance and ambition. He was a successful decathlete , was still at the top of the international star boat class at the age of 60 and started with the German Olympic team.

It wasn't just about himself. He promoted the Olympic sailing camps on Mallorca and was the first to introduce effective winter training for the German sailing crews. He also supported the construction of the Ahorn Sports Park, which was built in 1984 on the site of the former Paderborn landfill in the immediate vicinity of the production facilities of his Nixdorf Computer AG. Three state performance bases in baseball, athletics and squash were set up here.

Regional initiatives

Nixdorf, who drove an NSU Ro 80 as a sign of technical progress out of personal conviction - the Ro 80 was the only car of the time with a rotary engine - repeatedly complained about the poor funding in the East Westphalian region. In order to improve this, he put through a motorway connection for his hometown Paderborn, and he demanded an airport for Westphalia from the state government in Düsseldorf. That is why he was initially committed to the development of Gütersloh Airport , which then also took on private aircraft in the 1980s. However, the expansion to a regular, civil airport failed. The Paderborn / Lippstadt Airport was then built on his initiative . It went into operation in 1971 and was paid for by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with around 13.7 million D-Marks: Nixdorf had threatened to move its corporate headquarters to Frankfurt am Main.

Awards, honors and other things

Heinz Nixdorf's grave in the Waldfriedhof Schloss Neuhaus (Paderborn)

On June 24, 1981 he received the title of Honorary Senator from the then University of Karlsruhe . In 1983 he was the first entrepreneur to be awarded the Ludwig Erhard Medal by the Ludwig Erhard Foundation for his services to the social market economy . The medal "is to be awarded to men and women who have made outstanding contributions to the overall welfare and the continued existence and further development of the social market economy and the principles that support it."

Two years later, in 1985, Nixdorf was voted Manager of the Year by "Industriemagazin". In the same year he was awarded the Konrad Zuse Medal for services to computer science in construction .

The Heinz-Nixdorf-Realschule in Büren ( Westphalia ) and the Heinz-Nixdorf-Berufskolleg in Essen are named after him.

Heinz Nixdorf was known to the public as a sharp critic of unnecessary bureaucracy. A prominent example is a statement from him about the Bundespost :

"I want nothing more than the privatization of this 500,000-person colossus that lies around and does nothing."

What was meant in the eyes of Nixdorf was the lack of commitment by the Deutsche Bundespost to improve the Federal Republic's news infrastructure.

Nixdorf's importance for the economy of the Federal Republic of Germany

In 1952, at the age of 27, Nixdorf founded his first computer company as a penniless physics student from economically modest circumstances, which he later led as the owner of Nixdorf AG to a global electronics group with a turnover of almost four billion Deutschmarks. His vision in the emerging computer age was the decentralized application of computer technology in small computers. These were built in clearly structured designs taking into account the modular principle . With these microcomputers, Nixdorf entered what was then an unlimited market, which has given him growth rates of almost never less than 20 percent for three decades. This made his reputation in a market that was increasingly dominated by non-European competition from the Far East and the USA and in the economy of the Federal Republic of Germany, whose founding entrepreneurs such as Neckermann and Grundig could no longer keep up.

Nixdorf ran his company like a patriarch who gave his employees responsibility, but who also made demands. Even in the growing Nixdorf AG, the characteristics typical of medium-sized companies such as flexibility, short distances between management and workforce and a correspondingly high level of employee motivation have been retained. The company was tailor-made for him, even if he tried to build Klaus Luft as his successor after his first heart attack.

Nixdorf was an entrepreneur in the traditional sense who saw his market opportunities and resolutely implemented them. His technical knowledge helped him to recognize technical developments, to use them and possibly to influence them.

After his sudden death, it initially looked as if Nixdorf AG could continue to grow as before. But then it turned out that Nixdorf had missed the development on the market and that a new device was missing to fill this gap. The deficits could initially be compensated by the good contacts between the sales people and the customers. But then it became clear that personal computers with universal software were the new technology in data processing. “We don't build Goggomobile ” is Nixdorf's comment on the new technology. The company's founder had previously refused to work with Apple and opted for his 88xx system.

Former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt said about Nixdorf:

“He was a man of many talents. He was a decathlete, he was dynamic, he was smart. In 1984 she was still the prima ballerina of the European economy: Heinz Nixdorf. [...] He was a father figure, he was unconventional and at the same time down to earth. With almost 30,000 employees worldwide and an annual turnover of almost 5 billion Deutschmarks, Nixdorf has built the third largest computer company in Europe. It was a prime example of the German economic miracle. "

Former Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker classified Nixdorf as the “most imaginative and successful entrepreneur in the Federal Republic” .

Heinz Nixdorf Foundation and Westphalia Foundation

Logo of the foundations

Nixdorf has confirmed in his will that the Westphalia Foundation and the Heinz Nixdorf Foundation will be established or continued to run from his assets . Until 1991, the assets of the two foundations consisted of the ordinary shares held by Heinz Nixdorf, amounting to 74 percent of Nixdorf Computer AG. The civil law foundations now manage the income from this stake in the company.

“The two foundations want to promote the personal development of people in their awareness and performance with the aim of their well-being and the achievement of a society based on solidarity in freedom. Therefore, the purposes of the foundation are education, especially professional training and further education in the field of modern technology, as well as science, especially in the field of information technology. "

The long-term chairman of the foundations was Gerhard Schmidt , who headed the Nixdorf Computer AG supervisory board from 1969 to 1989. The two foundations support the Heinz Nixdorf Institute (HNI) and the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum (HNF) in Paderborn , among others . The HNI and the HNF are housed in buildings of the former Nixdorf headquarters. Other focal points of the funding of the two foundations include the Heinz Nixdorf scholarship program to promote the Asia-Pacific experience , the German Children and Youth Foundation , the Study Compass, the German Future Prize of the Federal President , the Ludwig Erhard Foundation , the Social Market Economy Action Group , the Convention for Germany and the Ahorn Sports Park .

Private

The marriage with Renate Ring in 1960 resulted in three sons. One of them is Martin Nixdorf, who is now chairman of the board of the Heinz Nixdorf Foundation and the Westphalia Foundation.

literature

  • Christian Berg: Heinz Nixdorf. A biography (= studies and sources on Westphalian history. Vol. 82). Schoeningh, Paderborn et al. 2016, ISBN 978-3-506-78227-4 .
  • Anikó Szabó: Heinz Nixdorf and the University of Paderborn , Paderborn University Library 2015, DNB 1079586199 ( full text online PDF, free of charge, 16 pages, 1.26 MB)
  • Lorenz Hanewinkel (Ed.): Computer revolution. My path with Konrad Zuse and Heinz Nixdorf. [Printer] Kleine, Paderborn 2010, ISBN 3-9807412-7-3 . ( Source of supply )
  • Volker Werb: Heinz Nixdorf. The sportsman and the promoter of sport. A piece of biography. Schoeningh, Paderborn et al. 2007, ISBN 978-3-506-71330-8 .
  • Heinz Nixdorf. Life pictures . Heinz Nixdorf Foundation, Munich 2004, PDF download: 786 KB , print version source: HNF , Paderborn.
  • Klaus Kemper: Heinz Nixdorf. A German career. 2nd Edition. Modern industry, Landsberg am Lech 2001, ISBN 3-478-30120-3 .
  • Hans-Henning Zabel:  Nixdorf, Heinz. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-00200-8 , p. 296 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Ulrich Fritsch (Ed.): The new dimension. Future strategies of international top managers. 2nd Edition. Econ, Düsseldorf et al. 1987, ISBN 3-430-12969-9 .

Web links

Commons : Heinz Nixdorf  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biography on the homepage of the Konrad Zuse Forum in Hoyerswerda Online ( memento of the original from October 19, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 24, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.konrad-zuse-forum-hoyerswerda.de
  2. ^ Klaus Kemper: Heinz Nixdorf - a German career . Verlag modern industry AG & Co, Landsberg / Lech 1986, ISBN 3-478-30120-3 , p. 14 .
  3. ^ Klaus Kemper: Heinz Nixdorf - a German career . Verlag modern industry AG & Co, Landsberg / Lech 1986, ISBN 3-478-30120-3 , p. 15 .
  4. ^ Klaus Kemper: Heinz Nixdorf - a German career . Verlag modern industry AG & Co, Landsberg / Lech 1986, ISBN 3-478-30120-3 , p. 19 .
  5. ^ Street names in Vienna since 1860 as "Political Places of Remembrance" (PDF; 4.4 MB), p. 277f, final research project report, Vienna, July 2013
  6. ^ A b Klaus Kemper: Heinz Nixdorf - a German career . Verlag modern industry AG & Co, Landsberg / Lech 1986, ISBN 3-478-30120-3 , p. 20 .
  7. ^ Klaus Kemper: Heinz Nixdorf - a German career . Verlag modern industry AG & Co, Landsberg / Lech 1986, ISBN 3-478-30120-3 , p. 23 .
  8. ↑ a b Die Zeit 28/2003: Moments of Decision, Episode 18, His customers loved him: Heinz Nixdorf pushed computer technology forward. But in the end, his company itself fell victim to Progress Online , accessed on February 22, 2011.
  9. ^ Klaus Kemper: Heinz Nixdorf - a German career . Verlag modern industry AG & Co, Landsberg / Lech 1986, ISBN 3-478-30120-3 , p. 33 .
  10. ↑ Full name according to the commercial register online access, accessed in February 2011
  11. ^ Klaus Kemper: Heinz Nixdorf - a German career . Verlag modern industry AG & Co, Landsberg / Lech 1986, ISBN 3-478-30120-3 , p. 34 .
  12. ↑ Big in the small . In: Der Spiegel . No. 12 , 1971, p. 68-70 ( Online - Mar. 15, 1971 ).
  13. ^ Klaus Kemper: Heinz Nixdorf - a German career . Verlag Moderne industrie AG & Co, Landsberg / Lech 1986, ISBN 3-478-30120-3 , p. 74 .
  14. ^ Klaus Kemper: Heinz Nixdorf - a German career . Verlag modern industry AG & Co, Landsberg / Lech 1986, ISBN 3-478-30120-3 , p. 78 .
  15. ↑ a b c d calculator for America . In: Der Spiegel . No. 41 , 1968, p. 57 ( Online - Oct. 7, 1968 ).
  16. ^ Brochure Heinz Nixdorf - Pictures of Life , Copyright Heinz Nixdorf Foundation 2004, PDF download , accessed on February 24, 2016.
  17. ^ Klaus Kemper: Heinz Nixdorf - a German career . Verlag modern industry AG & Co, Landsberg / Lech 1986, ISBN 3-478-30120-3 , p. 195 .
  18. ^ Klaus Kemper: Heinz Nixdorf - a German career . Verlag modern industry AG & Co, Landsberg / Lech 1986, ISBN 3-478-30120-3 , p. 200 .
  19. ^ Klaus Kemper: Heinz Nixdorf - a German career . Verlag modern industry AG & Co, Landsberg / Lech 1986, ISBN 3-478-30120-3 , p. 210 .
  20. ^ Klaus Kemper: Heinz Nixdorf - a German career . Verlag modern industry AG & Co, Landsberg / Lech 1986, ISBN 3-478-30120-3 , p. 217 .
  21. ↑ Volker Werb: Heinz Nixdorf. The sportsman and the promoter of sport. A piece of biography. Schoeningh Ferdinand GmbH, Paderborn 2007, ISBN 3-506-71330-2 , p. Blurb .
  22. ↑ a b Homepage of the association "Heinz-Nixdorf-Verein zur Förder des Segelsports e. V. “ ( Memento of the original from December 19, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. accessed in March 2011  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hnv.de
  23. ^ Homepage of the Squash Bundesliga, Paderborn Club
  24. ↑ Brochure Heinz Nixdorf - Pictures of Life , Copyright Heinz Nixdorf Foundation 2004, p. 15 PDF download ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed March 11, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.heinz-nixdorf-stiftung.de
  25. ^ Klaus Kemper: Heinz Nixdorf - a German career . Verlag modern industry AG & Co, Landsberg / Lech 1986, ISBN 3-478-30120-3 , p. 203 .
  26. ↑ Brochure Heinz Nixdorf - Pictures of Life , Copyright Heinz Nixdorf Foundation 2004, p. 19 PDF download ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed March 11, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.heinz-nixdorf-stiftung.de
  27. ↑ Airports: Dead Triangle . In: Der Spiegel . No. 46 , 1979, pp. 79-83 ( Online - Nov. 12, 1979 ).
  28. ^ Press conference of Nixdorf Computer AG at the German Industrial Fair 1985 in Hanover.
  29. ↑ Heinz Nixdorf - a pioneer of the electronic age (PDF; 202 kB) Author: Hans Jürgen Wehrmann, HAZ Hannover
  30. ↑ a b Die Zeit: Always setting new goals, No. 13/1986 , accessed on March 17, 2011.
  31. ^ Klaus Kemper: Heinz Nixdorf - A German career
  32. ↑ Focus on the 25th anniversary of Nixdorf's death appeared on March 17, 2011, accessed in March 2011
  33. ^ Nixdorf: No chance without a partner . In: Der Spiegel . No. 52 , 1989, pp. 84-87 ( Online - Dec. 25, 1989 ).
  34. ↑ Helmut Schmidt in: Heinz Nixdorf - Computer with Emotions, film by Raimund Kusserow (Süddeutscher Rundfunk) 1994 with the collaboration of the House of History of the Federal Republic of Germany.
  35. ↑ Richard von Weizsäcker in: Der Spiegel 13/1986, Company: Irgendwo ein Leitbild, p. 37.
  36. ↑ To the top with Nixdorf . In: Der Spiegel . No. 3 , 1990, p. 84-85 ( Online - Jan. 15, 1990 ).
  37. ↑ Foundation purposes on the joint website of the Heinz Nixdorf Foundation and the Westphalia Foundation , accessed on February 24, 2011
  38. ↑ Funding projects on the joint website of the Heinz Nixdorf Foundation and the Westphalia Foundation , accessed on February 24, 2016
  39. ↑ Foundation Board on the joint website of the Heinz Nixdorf Foundation and the Westphalia Foundation , accessed on February 25, 2011.
personal data
SURNAME Nixdorf, Heinz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German company founder and business manager
DATE OF BIRTH April 9, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Paderborn
DATE OF DEATH March 17, 1986
Place of death Hanover