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News in 2010
This page contains some of our preview news clippings. Please note that the information below has been written some time ago and my have lost its relevance by now. The information is retained here for historical reasons only.

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Museum Scryption closes down
5 December 2011

Due to financial cuts of the Tilburg city council, museum Scryption had to close its doors in January 2011. Most of the staff was dismissed and the entire collection was stored elsewhere.

During the course of 2011, the two remaining staff members managed to produce a series of successful ad-hoc events, such as the recent 2-day crypto exhibition at GOVCERT 2011 that was organized in cooperation with Crypto Museum.

Furthermore, plans emerged to move the entire museum to a new location in Eindhoven. This was met with great enthusiasm by the Eindhoven city council, and plans were made to move to a temporary location in the so-called Klokgebouw (Clock Building) at Strijp S, right at the creative heart of technology city Eindhoven.
  

Last month however, the Eindhoven city council unexpectedly decided not to make the necessary funds available. As a result, the Scryption society board has now decided to dismiss the two remaining staff members and sell the entire collection. Crypto Museum thinks this is a great loss, not just for Eindhoven, but for the entire country as well. Scryption was a unique hands-on museum and was one of the few technology museums left in this country. We would like to thank Scryption for their great support and cooperation. It was a pleasure working with you.

Break the Code
30 November 2011

Follow in the footsteps of the famous war-time Polish codebreakers by joining the online cryptology game at CODEBREAKERS.EU. The game is organized by the Marshal Office of Wielkopolska in Poland and the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression. Anyone who is 16 years or older is invited to enter. The winners will be invited to challenge a team of Polish codebreakers in spring 2012. All costs will be covered. The game will be started on 10 December 2011 and you can register your team now.

Wielkopolska is the Polish province where three young mathematicians of the Poznan University, Marian Rejewski, Henryk Zygalski and and Jerzy Rozycki, first broke the Enigma codes just before the outbreak of WWII. As part of the current Polish Presidency of the EU, the Government of the Wielkopolska Region is trying to bring the Polish contributions to the breaking of the Enigma codes to our attention. Earlier this year, they organized the exhibition Enigma, deciphered victory in the General Maczek Museum in Breda (Netherlands).

 More about the game
 Go to the website CODEBREAKERS.EU

In memoriam: Oskar Stürzinger (1920-2011)
12 September 2011

And yet another iconic persion is no longer with us. Today we received the sad news that on 23 July 2011, Oskar Sturzinger, Boris Hagelin's first employee in Switzerland, died at the age of 91.

We first met Oskar during the presentation of Dominik Landwehr's book Mythos Enigma on 8 November 2008 in Basel (Switzerland). Although he was already in his late 80s at the time, he travelled all the way from his home in Monte Carlo to Basel and collected some historical Hagelin machines on the way down.

During the day, he demonstrated the small mechanical marvels of technology and explained the circumstances under which they were conceived. He even insisted on giving a brief talk about the history of Hagelin.
  

When Boris Hagelin moved his company Crypto AG from Sweden to Switzerland in 1952, Oskar Sturzinger was his first employee. Over the years, many Hagelin patents were registered in his name. When Hagelin made the move from mechanics to electronics in the mid-1970s, it was Oskar who took part in the design of the first generation of electronic cipher machines. His good friend Dominik Landwehr has written an In Memoriam about him on his weblog (in German).

 In Memoriam Oskar Sturzinger, by Dominik Landwehr
 Oskar Sturzinger at a book presentation in 2008
 History of Hagelin Cryptos (15MB download)
 Hagelin cipher machines on this website

In Memoriam: Tony Sale (1931-2011)
31 August 2011

Today we received the sad new that on 28 August 2011, Tony Sale, head of the Colossus Rebuild Team, died at the age of 80. Tony, who worked for MI5 during his professional life, spend most of his time with computers. In 1991, when Bletchley Park was under threat of being demolished, he formed a team to fight for the survival of this historical place. This was the start of the Bletchley Park Trust. When Bletchley Park opened as a museum in 1993, Tony was its first curator.

When Tony learned about the fact that the first electronic computer - Colossus - was developed and built at Bletchley Park, he took upon him the enormous task to create a working replica of it.

He started the project in 1991, initially funded by himself and his wife Margaret. Helped by a team of volunteers and even by some of the original engineers, the Colossus Replica broke its first Lorenz messages in 2007.

© Photograph copyright South Bed News,
The Telegraph, 31 August 2011.
  
Photograph copyright South Beds News, click here for a full story

Although Tony was already 80 years of age, he was by no means old and had many plans for the future. He worked on Colossus nearly every day and was never too tired to give a full explanation of its inner secrets. During our many visits to Bletchley Park, we met Tony seveal times and it was always a pleasure to talk with him. His contributions to the Bletchley Park Museum and to the history of computing will be his living memory. Our thoughts are with his wife Margaret (herself a volunteer at BP) and his children and grand-children.

 Tony Sale obituary on the TNMOC site
 Some great pictures of Tony Sale
 Tony Sale's website Code and Ciphers

Enigma, the Polish victory
21 June 2011

A brand new exibition about the Polish contribution to breaking the Enigma codes, will be open between 3 July 2011 and 15 September 2011. This exhibition, that has been running in Poland and at Bletchley Park in the past, is now the guest of the Maczek Museum in Breda (Netherlands). Crypto Museum has helped setting up this exhibition by supplying some rare cipher machines.

 More information

Crypto Museum now on YouTube
26 March 2011

Following our move to Twitter earlier this month, we are pleased to announce that we've now opened our own YouTube channel as well. Over the years we've collected some quite nice video material that we can now share with you. Right now, only a few video clips are available.

We've already added a few video clips to some of our pages, and we will post new material as and when it becomes available. Click the YouTube button at the top of each page to enter our YouTube channel. The first video clip to be made available is a short impression of the exhibition Secret Messages, recorded in 2008 in Museum Jan Corver.

 Crypto Museum on YouTube
  

KESO key for Hagelin HC-570
25 March 2011

In December of last year, we acquired a very nice and rare Hagelin HC-570 cipher machine. Unfortunately, the primary KESO key was missing, so the machine could neither be operated nor opened. Luckyly, key expert Barry Wels came to the rescue once again.

Barry helped us before in 2009, with the creation of a working key for our Enigma M4, without removing or damaging the lock. Today, Barry visited Crypto Museum again and made us a matching KESO key, using a technique called impressioning. Watch the video.

As a result we can now start work on bringing the machine back to life.

 More information
  
Close-up of the impressioned KESO key

Wooden cases for Enigma-E
12 March 2011

Some time ago, a couple of Enigma-E users produced oak wooden boxes in small quantities. Interested Enigma-E users were able to order these boxes via e-mail. Unfortunately, the source of these wooden boxes seem to have dried up now. There is good news however.

We are pleased to announce that we are now able to supply our own pre-built oak wooden cases for the Enigma-E. The cases are all of excellent quality, including hinges, but no locks.

They are available from the usual outlets: Museum Jan Corver (Netherlands) and the Bletchley Park Museum shop (UK). Both ship world-wide. For pricing, please refer to the respective websites.

 More information
  
Click to see more

Crypto Museum now on Twitter
1 March 2011

As many people use social media these days, Crypto Museum has opened its own Twitter account. If you want to know which new items have been added to our website, or in which exhibition our stuff can be viewed, follow us on twitter. Alternatively, you may click the blue twitter icon at the top of each page.


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