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One of the recovered enigmas after a rough cleaning - now the find must be preserved so that the metal does not disintegrate
Photo: ALSH
Divers recovered six Enigma cipher machines from the Second World War from the Baltic Sea.
Finder Christian Hüttner reported the discovery from near Schleimünde, reported the Schleswig-Holstein State Archaeological Office.
"While looking for a lost propeller, I came across a pile of discarded Enigma machines," the authorities quoted the finder as saying.
"Some of them have obviously already been made unusable before they were disposed of."
It was only in November of last year that research divers around the underwater archaeologist Florian Huber found an Enigma cipher machine from the Second World War while searching for abandoned fishing nets in the Baltic Sea.
It is currently being restored in the workshop of the Museum of Archeology at Gottorf Castle in Schleswig.
»I have made many extraordinary finds in 20 years.
But there has never been anything like it, ”Huber told SPIEGEL at the time.
Finds are to be exhibited
According to the state office, it is still unclear how the machines found got to their place of discovery.
They should also be properly preserved.
This is necessary so that the metal in the machines does not fall apart any further.
After the work has been completed, the encryption machines will be exhibited.
An estimated 100,000 to 200,000 Enigmas were built in Germany during World War II.
There were several different models.
Deliberate destruction of the machines should prevent them from being used by the enemy.
Archaeologists assume that at the end of the war many of the devices were sunk in Schleswig-Holstein waters, often together with the ships and submarines on which they were previously used.
The preservationists call for such finds to be left at the place of discovery if possible.
Further research is possible in the future, especially since the devices could also be located near ship or aircraft wrecks.
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chs / dpa
