A Rare 3-rotor Heimsoeth & Rinke Enigma I Cipher Machine, German, circa 1941, serial no. 13489, manufactured for the German military, rotors II, III and IV, each rotor with serial number A13489, 'QWERTZ' keyboard of 26 keys, white on black backgrounds, battery switch, ebonite Steckerbrett [plugboard] with 13 stecker cables, upper lid with spare bulb holder, replica 'Zur Beachtung' card instruction sign, black metal crackle finish case, in original light oak case with hinged flap at the front, lock pin now detached, 6in x 11in x 13 1/2in (15cm x 28cm x 34cm) Footnotes: This example of the standard three rotor enigma machine was used principally by the army (Wehrmacht), and was their favoured cipher device. British attempts to break the Enigma cipher were fruitless for years. The breakthrough eventually came after the creation of the famous British codebreaking center Bletchley Park in 1937. Using the technology transferred to them from the brilliant Polish codebreaking team in 1939, as well as documents supplied by the French Intelligence from a German spy, Alan Turing, along with Knox, Foss and many others were able to break the Enigma code, shortening the war by an estimated two years, and saving countless lives. Provenance: This Enigma machine (A13489) was previously in the collection of former Romanian diplomat Ion Nicolescu (a resident of Buzău), who has loaned it to the Muzeul Județean Buzău (museum) at least twice. Once, in 2016 for an exhibition titled 'Armata a 2-a Centenar 1916-2016', and then again in 2019 for a science and technology exhibition titled: 'Ştiinţă şi tehnică în Buzăul sec. al XX-lea'. This most recent loan finished at the end of 2019. Since then it has been in another private collection. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing