Herbert Kortum
Herbert Kortum (born September 15, 1907 in Gelting ; † September 28, 1979 in Jena ) was a German scientist, computer scientist and computer pioneer of the GDR .
Life and research
From 1926 to 1931 he studied physics, mathematics, mineralogy and chemistry at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena . As early as 1930 he received his doctorate “summa cum laude” with Abraham Esau at the Physics and Technology Institute of the Friedrich Schiller University. 1931-1934 worked as his assistant. In 1930 he joined the NSDAP (membership no. 325150), and in 1931 the SS (membership no. 52852). From 1934 he worked as a scientific assistant and from 1941 as head of an independent development department for electromechanical computing devices and navigation instruments at Carl Zeiss Jena. In the SS he held the rank of Rottenführer from 1934 (according to DL Augustine Oberscharführer), in 1937 he became Untersturmführer and in 1942 Obersturmführer (according to Olaf Kappelt Obersturmbannführer).
The way to the Soviet Union
In 1945, after the end of the Second World War, he was deported by the American occupation forces with the entire scientific Zeiss elite to Heidenheim an der Brenz . He received the offer of an employment contract in the USA. However, Kortum returned to Jena at the end of 1945 to take part in the reconstruction of the Zeiss factory. In 1946 he was denazified by the Soviet occupation forces. In October 1946, as part of reparation measures, he was obliged to head a group of Zeiss specialists in the Soviet Union. Here he spent seven years. Together with Wilhelm Kämmerer he came to Mamontowka, a suburb of Moscow (today part of Puschkino ), and in 1948 to the “Dom Olen” (“Haus Hirsch”) in Moscow- Sokolniki . Both scientists were among those specialists who had to spend a year of “secret protection security time” on the island of Gorodomlja (today the Solnetschny settlement ) in Lake Seliger . Here they jointly developed the theoretical concept for the construction of the OPREMA.
Back in the GDR
After his return in 1953, he resumed his work as head of development at VEB Carl Zeiss Jena. There is evidence that he had already announced the idea of building an analog computer at a factory management meeting in 1946 and also thought about it during his stay in the Soviet Union. In 1954 he played a leading role in the development and completion of the first GDR computer, called OPREMA . For this, he and Wilhelm Kämmerer received the national 2nd class prize in a collective. The ZRA 1 computer system, which was further developed by Kortum , went into production in 1960. In 1960, Kortum was appointed part-time professor for automation and control engineering at the TH Ilmenau .
In 1962 he took over the management of the research center for measurement technology and automation of the Central Institute for Optics and Spectroscopy of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR in Jena . With his development of vacuum thermometer columns (Vth1), special bolometers and infrared detectors, he succeeded in achieving internationally recognized scientific excellence. These components were widely used in scientific device construction, in industry and in the Interkosmos program. Kortum was active in several international and national scientific committees (including Research Council of the GDR, IMEKO), as well as co-editor or advisor of physical journals (including "Feingerätetechnik", "msr").
Personal
He retired early in 1971 due to illness. But he continued to deal with scientific subjects. In 1977 he gave a lecture on magneto-mechanical phenomena at the FSU Jena.
Herbert Kortum died in Jena at the age of 72 as a result of his illness.
honors and awards
- 1955 National Prize, 2nd class
- 1959 Appointment to the Research Council of the GDR
- 1961 co-founder and honorary member of the board of the scientific society for measurement and automation technology
- 1967 Medal of Merit of the GDR
- 1971 Honorary title "Honored Technician of the People"
- 1971 Awarded the gold medal for the Vth1 vacuum thermocouple he developed at the Leipzig trade fair
literature
- Dolores L. Augustine: Red Prometheus: Engineering and Dictatorship in East Germany, 1945–1990, Mit Pr, November 30, 2007, ISBN 978-0-262-01236-2
- Dolores L. Augustine: Time of Experts: Motivation and self-image of industrial research directors in the GDR until 1971; in: Fraunholz, Uwe / Wölfel, Sylvia (ed.): Engineers in the technocratic state of the art. Münster 2012: Waxmann, pp. 225–240, here p. 228. ISBN 3-8309-7771-9
- Wolfgang Mühlfriedel, Rolf Walter, Edith Hellmuth: Carl Zeiss, the history of a company, 3 volumes, volume 3, Zeiss 1945–1996, Böhlau, January 1, 2004, ISBN 978-3-412-11196-0
- Klaus Mütze: The power of optics. Industrial history of Jenas from 1846–1996, quartus-Verlag, December 1, 2009, ISBN 978-3-936455-78-6
Web links
- Literature by and about Herbert Kortum in the catalog of the German National Library
- About the OPREMA from Prof. Dr. Jürgen FH Winkler
- Overview from the archive of the historical »New Germany« from 1955–61 (full access only with subscription)
- Information about the ZRA1
- Web article about the OPREMA
- Contemporary witnesses tell about the time in the Soviet Union
Individual evidence
- H.-G. Lauenroth / W. Fritsch, "msr" 7133 in memoriam of Prof. Dr Herbert Kortum
- K. Junge et al. Feingerätetechnik 29th year, issue 1/1980 Personal information: Prof. Dr. Herbert Kortum
- Federal Ministry for All German Issues (ed.): SBZ biography. Bonn / Berlin: Deutscher Bundes-Verlag 1964, p. 190.
- Olaf Kappelt: Brown Book GDR: Nazis in the GDR. Berlin: Reichmann 1981, p. 107.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kortum, Herbert |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German natural scientist, computer scientist and computer pioneer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 15, 1907 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Gelting |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 28, 1979 |
| Place of death | Jena |