National Technical Museum Prague: Enigma and Other Secret Projects

The legendary Enigma was regarded as unbreakable during the Second World War. The exhibition at the National Technical Museum presents its history and the development of cryptology, including its impact on everyday life.

The National Technical Museum in Prague (NTM) has opened the exhibition “Enigma and Other Secret Projects”. The presentation is based on a travelling exhibition by the Slovak Technical Museum, which explores the history of the Enigma machine and the development of cryptology. The NTM has supplemented it with accounts of secret projects whose confidentiality became necessary due to political circumstances.

Enigma and the art of secrecy

The legendary Enigma was used in several variants before and during the Second World War, primarily by the German Wehrmacht. With more than 100 million possible encryption combinations, it was considered virtually unbreakable. The exhibition not only recounts the history of the Enigma but also traces the development of cryptology throughout human history – including its surprising effects on everyday life.

Foto: Národní technické muzeum

“Even the word Enigma evokes associations of mystery and puzzles. In Greek, αίνιγμα means ‘riddle’. However, it is not only codes that are encrypted. To this day, car manufacturers keep their latest models under wraps until their launch, and new smartphones are also eagerly anticipated. In our exhibition, we show how political circumstances led to secrecy,” explains Stanislav Dvořák, curator at the NTM.

Secret developments during the Second World War: From Jawa motorcycles to the Curta calculator

At the end of the 1930s, the first prototypes of new Jawa Moto motorcycles were developed. However, the occupation during the war prevented their official development, and work therefore continued in secret so that series production could begin after the war.

Foto: Národní technické muzeum

A similar fate befell the entrepreneur Jan Prošvic. During the war, he was forced to manufacture radio components. He therefore founded the company Esa in order to continue producing household appliances. After the war, production was expanded and later, following nationalisation, integrated into the Elektro-Praga enterprise.

The growing demands of industry created a need for calculating aids. Mechanical calculating machines were heavy and cumbersome. Curt Herzstark therefore designed the compact Curta pocket calculator, completing its construction during the war while imprisoned in a concentration camp. After the war, the Curta became a worldwide success. The exhibition is complemented by the baroque Organum Mathematicum and the Hagelin-Cryptos encryption machine, variants of which were used by the US Army during the Second World War.

Foto: Národní technické muzeum

Visitors can interactively try out an Enigma machine, as well as the Caesar and Jefferson ciphers, or practise writing in Morse code.

The exhibition “Enigma and Other Secret Projects” runs until 10 May 2026. It was organised in cooperation with the Slovak Technical Museum, the Technical Museum in Brno and the Military History Institute Prague.



Národní technické muzeum (Technical Museum)
Kostelní 42, 170 78 Praha 7
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