East Germany was one of the leading computer producers in the Eastern Bloc as purchases of higher technologies from the West were under various embargoes. A program of illegal purchases, copying and reverse engineering of Western examples was established, after which GDR sold these computers to COMECON countries. Under the rule of Erich Honecker, electronics, microelectronics and data processing industries grew at average 11.4% in the 1970s and 12.9% during the 1980s. [1]
In the years just before German Reunification, the electronics industry was structured into business conglomerates called Kombinate (combine). Semiconductor manufacturing equipment was produced by Kombinat Carl Zeiss Jena. Using this equipment VEB Kombinat Elektronische Bauelemente Teltow manufactured passive electronic components and VEB Kombinat Mikroelektronik Erfurt active electronic components. In turn, VEB Kombinat Robotron Dresden assembled these components into a range of computers. VEB Kombinat Rundfunk- und Fernsehtechnik Staßfurt produced consumer electronics such as radio receivers, cassette decks, and television sets while telecommunications equipment was provided by VEB Kombinat Nachrichtenelektronik Berlin . With the exception of Carl Zeiss and Robotron, most components and devices were sold under the common trademark RFT (from Rundfunk- und Fernmelde-Technik). [de]
From 1977 the attempt to achieve a competitive edge in microchips against the research and development resources of the entire western world – in a state of just 16 million people – was perhaps always doomed to failure, but swallowed increasing amounts of internal resources and hard currency. GDR was some five to eight years behind the leading producers of USA and Japan. To produce one 64kb chip cost 40 marks, while in the West it cost 4.50 marks. To produce one 256kb chip cost 534 marks, while in the West it cost 5.00 to 7.00 marks. [2]
Microelectronics industry in Eastern Germany began in 1961 when the "Arbeitsstelle für Molekularelektronik Dresden" (department of molecular electronics Dresden) was established in Dresden. Later it grew into "VEB Forschungszentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden". [3]
The center of East German microchip industry was in Dresden, where research and production laboratories were located. Production equipment was built by Carl Zeiss Jena and "VEB Elektromat Dresden". The actual 13 mm x 5 mm U61000 microchip production was done by "VEB Forschungszentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden" and it was presented publicly in September 1988. In total some 50,000 U61000 microchips were produced in early 1990 before the GDR dissolved together with its microchip industry. During the Cold War 3,500 people were employed in this microelectronics center. After reunification Dresden formed the nucleus for the modern day largest unified German cluster in semiconductor technologies; Silicon Saxony, with 40,000 employees.
VEB Kombinat Robotron was the largest East German electronics manufacturer. It was headquartered in Dresden and employed 68,000 people in 1989. Its products included personal computers, SM EVM minicomputers, the ESER mainframe computers, various computer peripherals as well as microcomputers, radios, television sets and other items including cookie press Kleingebäckpresse Typ 102.
Praktica was a brand of camera manufactured by Pentacon in Dresden in eastern Germany, within the GDR between 1949 and the German reunification in 1990. The firm Pentacon was divided in mainly two parts and sold after German reunification. Schneider Kreuznach and Noble bought parts of it. Pentacon is a Dresden-based company in the optical and precision engineering industry, which was at times a major manufacturer of photo cameras. The name Pentacon is derived on the one hand from the Contax brand of the Dresden Zeiss Ikon Kamerawerke and Pentagon, because a pentaprism for SLR cameras developed for the first time in Dresden has this shape in cross section. Today's PENTACON GmbH Foto- und Feinwerktechnik is still based in Dresden. It is part of the Schneider Group, Bad Kreuznach. Pentacon is the modern-day successor to Dresden camera firms such as Zeiss Ikon; for many years Dresden was the world's largest producer of cameras. Previous brands of the predecessor firms included Praktica, Exa, Pentacon, Zeiss Ikon, Contax, Ica, Ernemann, Exakta, Praktiflex, and many more.
The Publicly Owned Enterprise was the main legal form of industrial enterprise in East Germany. These state-owned enterprise were all publicly owned and were formed after mass nationalisation between 1945 and the early 1960s, and the handing back in 1954 of some 33 enterprises previously taken by the Soviet Union as reparations.
The KC 85 were models of microcomputers built in East Germany by VEB Mikroelektronik "Wilhelm Pieck" Mühlhausen. The first model in the series, the HC 900, originally designed as a home computer and introduced in 1984, was renamed to KC 85/2 in 1985 to de-emphasize its use as consumer good.
Schott AG is a German multinational glass company specializing in the manufacture of glass and glass-ceramics. Headquartered in Mainz, Germany, it is owned by the Carl Zeiss Foundation. The company's founder and namesake, Otto Schott, is credited with the invention of borosilicate glass.
Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden (ZMD) was regarded as the heart of East Germany's microelectronics research in the 1980s as well as its most advanced integrated circuit manufacturer. Together with TU Dresden and VEB Spurenmetalle Freiberg, ZMD formed the foundation for Silicon Saxony, a cluster of microelectronics companies that came to include new fabs by Siemens and AMD.
Jenoptik AG is a Jena, Germany-based integrated photonics company. The company is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and is included in the TecDAX stock index.
The U880 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was manufactured by VEB Mikroelektronik "Karl Marx" Erfurt in the German Democratic Republic. Production of the U880 started in 1980 at VEB Funkwerk Erfurt. The U880 is an unlicensed clone of the Zilog Z80 microprocessor, also supporting illegal opcodes and bugs, except for very minor differences like not setting the CY flag for the OUTI command.
The X-FAB Silicon Foundries is a group of semiconductor foundries. The group specializes in the fabrication of analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits for fabless semiconductor companies, as well as MEMS and solutions for high voltage applications. The holding company named "X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE" is based in Tessenderlo, Belgium while its headquarters is located in Erfurt, Germany.
Werner Hartmann was a German physicist who introduced microelectronics into East Germany. He studied physics at the Technische Hochschule Berlin and worked at Siemens before joining Fernseh GmbH. At the end of World War II, he and his research staff were flown to the Soviet Union to work on their atomic bomb project; he was assigned to Institute G. In 1955, he arrived in the German Democratic Republic (GDR); in the same year, he founded and became the director of the VEB Vakutronik Dresden, later VEB RFT Meßelektronik Dresden. In 1956, he completed his Habilitation at the Technische Hochschule Dresden and also became a professor for Kernphysikalische Elektronik there. In 1961, he founded the Arbeitsstelle für Molekularelektronik Dresden (AME). He was awarded the National Prize of GDR in 1958. In 1974, he was removed from his positions, significantly demoted, and sent to work as a staff scientist at the VEB Spurenmetalle Freiberg. Hartmann had been the object of security investigations by the Stasi for some time; while he was investigated at length and repeatedly interrogated, the alleged charges were politically motivated and no trial ever took place. The Werner-Hartmann-Preis für Chipdesign is an industrial award given in Hartmann's honor for achievement in the field of semiconductors.
Silicon Saxony is a registered industry association of nearly 300 companies in the microelectronics and related sectors in Saxony, Germany, with around 40,000 employees. Many, but not all, of those firms are situated in the north of Dresden.
The MRB Z 1013 was an East German single-board computer produced by VEB Robotron Riesa, which was primarily intended for private use and educational institutions. It was powered by a U880 processor and sold together with a membrane keyboard. Initially, the kit was equipped with 16 kilobytes of DRAM, which was later replaced by a 64 KB version.
NOBLEX E-Optics GmbH, formerly Docter Optics, is a German manufacturer of optics, including binoculars, rifle scopes, spotting scopes, red dot sights, flashlights and reading glasses. Its headquarters are in Eisfeld, Thuringia, Germany, where most of the products are developed and manufactured. Docter is part of the Analytik Jena Group.
The U80701 is a 32-bit microprocessor developed from 1986-1990 in the German Democratic Republic. It was manufactured by VEB Mikroelektronik "Karl Marx" Erfurt (MME) in NMOS technology and is encased in a ceramic quad flat package.
The Robotron KC 87, fully known as Kleincomputer robotron KC 87, was an 8-bit microcomputer released in 1987 and produced in East Germany by VEB Robotron-Meßelektronik "Otto Schön" Dresden, part of Kombinat Robotron.
Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH comprises the Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology business group of ZEISS and develops and produces equipment for the manufacture of microchips. The company is majority owned by Carl Zeiss AG, with a 24.9% minority stake by ASML Holding.
VEB Kombinat Mikroelektronik Erfurt was an important manufacturer of active electronic components in East Germany. It should not be confused with the more well-known VEB Kombinat Robotron Dresden which used integrated circuits from Kombinat Mikroelektronik in its computers.
VEB Halbleiterwerk Frankfurt (Oder) (abbreviated HFO or HWF) was the largest manufacturer of semiconductor devices in the German Democratic Republic. In 1989, HFO produced 110 million integrated circuits (70% of all integrated circuits produced in the GDR in that year), 9.7 million transistors, and 150 million transistor chips. Despite this, HFO did not rise to prominence like Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden (of megabit chip fame) or VEB Mikroelektronik "Karl Marx" Erfurt (known for its microprocessors). Also unlike Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden and VEB Mikroelektronik "Karl Marx" Erfurt, HFO did not survive long after German Reunification.
The MKF-6 is a multispectral camera that was designed and made in East Germany for the purpose of remote sensing of the earth's surface. The device was built by the Kombinat Carl-Zeiss-Jena in cooperation with the Institute for Electronics of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR, where optical elements for the Soviet space program were developed and produced since 1969.
Helmut Reimer is a German computer scientist. He was professor of microelectronics at the Technische Universität Ilmenau from 1971. From 1980 to 1990, he also led the department for microchip production of the VEB Mikroelektronik Erfurt. From 1992 to 2007, he was managing director of TeleTrusT, an association for trustworthy information and communication technologies.