The Enigma Machine

The Enigma Machine

The Enigma machine was invented by Arthur Scherbius in 1918, right at the end of World War I. After multiple years of improving his invention, the first machine was introduced in 1923. It was a rather large typewriter-style machine that was developed by Scherbius' first company Scherbius & Ritter of Berlin-Wansee (Germany), but was built by Gewerkschaft Securitas. This machine would become known as the Enigma A. Since the machine prints directly on a sheet of paper (just like a typewriter), it was also known as the Schreibende Enigma (writing Enigma). The machine was used to send top secret messages or facts, using a code. Enigma allowed an operator to type in a message, then scramble it by using three to five notched wheels, or rotors, which showed different letters of the alphabet. The receiver needed to know the exact settings of these rotors in order to reconstruct the coded message. Over the years the basic machine became more complicated as German code experts added plugs with electronic circuits.