The Deutsches Museum has two models of the Nazi encryption device “Key Device 41” in its collection. The inventor of the “Hitlermühle”, Fritz Menzer, kept his work a secret even from those closest to him. A film series now provides an insight into the life of the cryptologist.
The origin of the Nazi encryption device “Key Device 41”, also known as “Hitlermühle”, was a secret for many decades – as was the life story of its inventor, Fritz Menzer. A new series of films by the Deutsches Museum now shows that Menzer was also active after the Second World War.
Filmmaker Robert Jahn said at a press event that he played an important role in German and American cryptology. In the seven episodes, it also becomes clear that Menzer kept the extent of his activities during the Second World War and in the post-war period a secret, even from those closest to him. “I didn’t know anything about it,” said Menzer’s daughter, Gudrun Jackson.
At home, her father, who died in 2005, said nothing about his invention. “I still can’t believe it today,” Jackson said. The Deutsches Museum has two models of the “Hitlermühle” in its collection. Hobby treasure hunters discovered one of them in a forest southeast of Munich in 2017 and handed it over to the museum.
