- Heinz Nixdorf
Heinz Nixdorf (
April 9 ,1925 –March 17 ,1986 ) was a German computing pioneer and businessman.Nixdorf was born in
Paderborn .In 1942, Nixdorf was drafted by the German forces and could only finish his education in 1946, after the end of
World War II .He studied
Physics inFrankfurt from 1947 to 1952. In 1951 he was first exposed to computer technology whilst working at Remington Rand. In 1952, Nixdorf interrupted his studies and founded theLabor für Impulstechnik inEssen . He started building machines for RWE and soon became a contractor toWanderer-Werke and Compagnie des Machines Bull. In 1964, Nixdorf produced theSystem 820 , his first small computer, which he sold to small and medium-sized businesses with great success. In 1968, he bought his largest customer, the Wanderer-Werke, and incorporated them into the newly-foundedNixdorf Computer AG with its head office in Paderborn.In the 1970s, Nixdorf Computer AG was the market leader in
West Germany and the fourth-largest computer manufacturer worldwide. By 1986, Nixdorf Computer AG had 25,500 employees in 44 countries and had a net cash flow of 4.5 billion DM per year. The same year Nixdorf died inHanover , during the firstCeBIT computer fair.With a donation, he created the world's biggest
computer museum in Paderborn called theHeinz Nixdorf Museum .External links
* [http://en.hnf.de/ Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum]
Persondata
NAME=Nixdorf, Heinz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Computing pioneer
DATE OF BIRTH=April 9 ,1925
PLACE OF BIRTH=Paderborn
DATE OF DEATH=March 17 ,1986
PLACE OF DEATH=Hanover
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