computer science

Gottfried Schapper

Gottfried Schapper is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Gottfried Schapper rather than just read about it. In short: Gottfried Schapper (16 December 1888 in Groß Möringen – after 8 May 1945, in the district of Stendal) was a German listening specialist, before and during World War II. Schapper was an Signals intelligence officer, who was known for having the original idea for the Forschungsamt signal intelligence agency.

Key takeaways

Gottfried Schapper belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Gottfried Schapper to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Gottfried Schapper from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Gottfried Schapper (16 December 1888 in Groß Möringen – after 8 May 1945, in the district of Stendal) was a German listening specialist, before and during World War II. Schapper was an Signals intelligence officer, who was known for having the original idea for the Forschungsamt signal intelligence agency. Schapper had worked in the Reichswehr Ministry cipher bureau from 1927 to 1933, which would later form part of Luftwaffe signals intelligence unit, had been dissatisfied by both the scope of monitoring and intercept work and the incompetence of the methods employed there. He along with some colleagues, including the convinced Nazi, Hans Schimpf, proposed to Hermann Göring that a separate signals office be created that would be free from department ties.

Personal life

Schapper was the son of the protestant pastor Karl Schapper and grew up with seven siblings. His eldest brother (son from the father's first marriage) is the resistance fighter against national socialism and labour leader Karl Schapper, his youngest (like Gottfried from second marriage) the prophet Helmut Schapper. During 1919 he was married, and had a son in 1934.

Career Gottfried Schapper was promoted to Fahnenjunker in 1910 and posted to a radio communications unit, and promoted to Lieutenant in the railroad regiment No. 2 in Hanau (German Army (German Empire)). By 1913 he was transferred to Signals. During World War I, he was deployed on both the West and the Eastern Front. From 1916 to 1917, he was director of the cryptographic office in the Reichswehr signals intelligence office and in 1919 he was promoted to the civil service rank of director (German: Ministerial Direktor) of the whole signals intelligence service. During 1918, he was Divisional Signals Commander with various divisions in the west. In 1919, he was discharged with a military rank of captain (German: Hauptmann) In 1920, he became secretary to the National Society of Berlin for Rescuing the Reich from the Revolution, Nationale Vereinigung (National Association) and was a participant in the Kapp Putsch. Schapper joined the Nazi Party in 1920 and a remained party member until 1923. From 1920, he worked as a kind of manager for national organizations, newspapers, clubs and clubs, until 1927. From 1927, Schapper played a key role in centralizing the scattered interception and decryption departments of the Ministry of the Reichswehr (German: Reichswehrministerium). He became director of the cryptographic office (German: chiffrierstelle) in the Reichswehrministerium and stepped back in 1933, because he was dissatisfied with the incompetent methods on site. A quote regarding Schapper at the time, that is attributed to the spy Hans-Thilo Schmidt who stated:

He was always talking about the unease felt as much in the Abwehr as in the chiffrierstelle due to the chaotic organization of the research and analysis of the intelligence. Everyone gets involved, military and civilian, sailors, airmen, police, foreign affairs, postal, customs and so on. He joined the Nazi Party again in 1931.

Forschungsamt From 1933 to 1937 or 1938 he was a member of the SS and had the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer. He resigned, as they refused to recognize his Christian philosophy of life. Gottfried Schapper's idea for a new central intelligence agency took form as early as 1927. As quoted by Hans-Thilo Schmidt:

Schapper's idea, in line with Patzig and many other specialists in the Abwehr, is to create a Central Intelligence Office. This organization would be directly dependent on the chancellor [Hitler, who was not yet in power], and would centralize and coordinate research and would oversee its analysis In 1933 he turned to Hermann Göring, who was an acquaintance from the First World War, to create the new agency. Schmidt stated:

The main aspects of the project were submitted by Schapper to Göring. If the Führer approves in turn, and if the Nazis take power, then it is likely this reform will happen. Schapper will then occupy an important place and will surely ask me to take a place next to him. Hans Schimpf, who was a close friend of Göring was selected, along with 8 key people, and Schapper to create the new agency, which started operation in March 1933. He became head of a subsection, later head of a section of the Research Office of the Reich Air Ministry (German: Forschungsamt). From 12 October 1943 to 8 May 1945 Schapper was the head of the Forschungsamt. During his leadership, he was initially active in Berlin and after numerous bombardments in Breslau and Kaufbeuren. He was arrested near Rosenheim in May 1945 and taken to Salzburg and Augsburg, where he was interrogated by TICOM, the project formed in World War II by the United States to find and seize German intelligence assets.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Gottfried Schapper

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Gottfried Schapper claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Gottfried Schapper before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Gottfried Schapper ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Gottfried Schapper

In research: Gottfried Schapper appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Gottfried Schapper in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Gottfried Schapper is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1888 births, German Army personnel of World War I, German cryptographers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Gottfried Schapper outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Gottfried Schapper in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Gottfried Schapper means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Gottfried Schapper out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gottfried Schapper in simple terms?

Why does Gottfried Schapper matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Gottfried Schapper?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Gottfried Schapper.