Heinz Nixdorf was born on April 9, 1925, in Paderborn, Germany. He died on March 17, 1986. He was a German leader in computing, a businessman, and the founder of Nixdorf Computer AG.
At 27 years old, Nixdorf was a physics student at Goethe University Frankfurt. In 1952, he started his first computer company. As the owner, he helped the company grow into an international electronics business. At its highest point, the company earned nearly four billion Deutsche Mark each year. His microcomputers competed with IBM’s mainframes.
Nixdorf is remembered as one of the business leaders who helped Germany’s economy grow strongly between the 1950s and 1970s. He was also a dedicated athlete and worked to ensure his employees received good education. He died from a heart attack in 1986 at the CeBIT event in Hanover, Germany. A museum called the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum was named in his honor.
Early life
Nixdorf was born on April 9, 1925, as the oldest of five children. He attended a Catholic school where he showed early skill in math and science. His family faced difficult times because his father lost his job during the 1920s and 1930s, and they lived in poverty. Nixdorf earned good grades in school and was given a scholarship to study to be a teacher. He did not want to become a teacher, so he wrote a letter to the Ministry of Education in Berlin. Because of this, he was allowed to attend the Reismann-Gymnasium in Paderborn beginning in 1941. In 1942, Nixdorf was sent to serve in the Wehrmacht and fought on the Eastern Front. He joined the Nazi Party in 1943. In 1944, he was part of the 1st Fallschirm-Panzer Division Hermann Göring. Nixdorf finished his education in 1947 and received the Abitur.
Education
With the help of a scholarship, Nixdorf studied physics at the Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe Universität in Frankfurt am Main in 1947. Along with his physics education, he also took classes about business economics. In 1951, Nixdorf began working in the development department at Remington Rand Corp. There, he learned about simple adding machines and met Walter Sprick, who became his assistant. When Nixdorf left Remington to work at IBM, Sprick gave him some of his work and inventions. Using those ideas, Nixdorf created the Elektronensaldierer and the Elektronenmultiplizierer.
Founding and development of the company
In 1952, Nixdorf started a company called Labor für Impulstechnik in Essen. On September 5, 1952, Nixdorf hired his first employee, an electronics technician named Alfred Wierzioch. In 1954, the company introduced their first vacuum-tube computer, named ES, for a local electric utility company. After this, the company grew quickly and became a supplier of electronic computers to other businesses, including Wanderer, which was the leading German manufacturer of office machines at that time.
In 1959, the company moved to Paderborn, the city where Nixdorf was born. Using his connections there, Nixdorf planned to expand his business. By 1961, his company had 60 employees. In 1965, the Wanderer Logatronic, an electronic desk calculator, was shown at Hannover Messe. This was the first electronic calculator to use semiconductors, which was a major innovation at the time. In 1967, Nixdorf improved the Logatronic to create the Nixdorf 820, which became very popular. In 1968, Nixdorf purchased Wanderer and changed the company’s name to Nixdorf Computer AG.
National and international success
The brand's success both in the United States and around the world began in the 1970s. By 1985, the company made about four billion D-Mark in money and had 24,000 workers in 44 countries. Nixdorf passed away due to a heart attack on March 17, 1986, during the CeBIT event in Hannover.
Nixdorf as an employer
Nixdorf supported the education of his employees by using his own time and money. In 1969, he created a trade school on the company’s property. He also helped the Universität-Gesamthochschule Paderborn. To encourage physical activity, he provided sports classes and built the Ahorn-Sportpark in Paderborn in 1984. The sports park was open to the public and remains free to use today.
Nixdorf was important in the construction of Paderborn Airport. He threatened to move his company to Frankfurt am Main if the city did not build proper infrastructure. The Paderborn Lippstadt Airport was completed and opened in 1971. Its construction cost 13.7 million D-Mark.
Personal life
In 1960, Nixdorf married Renate Ring. The couple had three sons, and one of their sons, Martin Nixdorf, is currently the chairman of the Heinz-Nixdorf-Stiftung and the Stiftung Westfalen.