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Director of Telesecurity Timman (TST)
Klaus-Peter Timmann (14 July 1940 - 10 January 2002)
was the managing director of
Tele Security Timmann (TST),
a company that produced electronic cipher machines,
in or around Tützing, near München (Munich, Germany).
He was also an Electronics Engineer (Dipl.-Ing).
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Most of the cipher machines produced by TST were (partly)
designed by Timmann himself. Furthermore, he was personally
responsible for the implementation of the
cryptographic algorithms that were used in his systems.
During the 1970s, Timmann worked for Collins Radio (later:
Rockwell Collins), a big American company that specialized in
transceivers for the aviation industry, the American space program,
broadcast transmitters and even Ham Radio equipment.
During WWII, Collins was a supplier of critical military communications
equipment to the Allied Forces. After the war, Collins left a settlement
in Rodgau near Frankfurt (Germany).
In the late 1970s, Timmann left Collins in order to establish his own
company: Tele Security Timmann,
abbreviated: TST.
The company was initially based in or near Rodgau (Germany).
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In Rodgau, Timmann developed his first fully electronic cipher machine:
the PPC-19.
It was a small hand-held device that was based on one of the
earliest HP-19C printing pocket calculators from HP. It allowed numerical
messages to be encrypted with a 108 key, whilst still being able to use
the device as a normal calculator. This was considered a major achievement
at the time.
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After developing some other cipher machines, such as the
DT-300,
the TST-1221,
the TST-2305
and the portable TST-3550,
he moved his company to Pöcking, a small town just south of Starnberg,
near Munich (Germany), north west of the beautiful lake Starnberg.
In the mid-1980s, when the facilities in Pöcking were no longer considered
adequate, he moved the company to Tuzing, about 5 km south of Pöcking,
where he had bought a large villa right at lake Starnberg.
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For many years, Timmann had a very successful business. His company was
not widely known, due to the nature of the equipment that was sold, but
had a good reputation within the crypto-community, selling to Governments and
Armies all around the world. In the UK, some of his products were distributed
by Marconi, but he was particularly successful in the Arab countries.
TST's cipher machines were manfactured to the highest security standards
and most of his products were tested at the German Army Signals School
in Feldafing, not far from the TST workshop. Much to his dismay however,
Timmann was not allowed to sell his equipment to the German authorities
or the Army. Despite all efforts, the orders kept going to the likes of
Siemens, Telefunken and Rohde & Schwarz.
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Klaus-Peter Timmann was also a dedicated Radio Amateur (HAM),
using the call-sign DJ9ZR. Through his work at Collins Radio in
Rodgau, he was able to get access to useful information and equipment.
During the 1960s and 70s, before he had founded is own company,
he wrote many articles in German and foreign Radio Amateur magazines,
mainly on fundamental techniques.
After he had left Collins, he stayed loyal to the Collins brand.
One of his favorite transceivers was the Collins HF-380, which was often
used at TST to test new cipher machines that were intended for narrow-band
short wave communication. It even appeared in the company brochure [2].
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Timmann died unexpectedly on 10 January 2002 at the age of 61.
He is burried on the Neuer Friedhof in Pöcking, near Starnberg (Germany).
After his death, the company seemed to have lost its 'heart' and
struggled to keep afloat. Furthermore, no new products had been developed
for several years. Former employee Torsten Hartmann rejoined
the company and took over the shares, but despite all efforts,
he wan't able to turn the tide and turned off the lights in 2006.
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