Email, August 2, 1984, printout on paper, provenance: Karlsruhe University. Stadtarchiv Karlsruhe 8 Sts 4 265.
The text printed here marked the beginning of email correspondence at the Informatics Division (Informatik-Rechner-Abteilung, IRA) of the Karlsruhe Department of Informatics in 1984, using the technical protocols that would later become standard on the Internet. At that time, experienced computer scientists did not immediately recognize the historical significance of this development. They had been sending personal messages via a computer network designed for data packet transmission for over a decade already. The widespread adoption of email across various domains did not occur until 1991, with the introduction of the hypertext-based World Wide Web and the subsequent establishment of browsers with graphical user interfaces. These advancements were what made email a universal communication tool.
The email received by Michael Rotert at IRA on August 3, 1984, from the operators of the US Computer Science Network (CSNet) was a milestone in itself, because it simplified computer-based communications between research institutions across the Atlantic. Werner Zorn, professor of informatics at Karlsruhe University and head of IRA, had been advocating for a connection between the emerging German research network and CSNet since 1982. Another significant achievement by IRA was the first connection of a Chinese computer to an international network in 1987, which laid the groundwork for the development of the Internet in China. The expertise imparted by the university’s Internet pioneers caused a significant boost in development for the city of Karlsruhe. The arrival of numerous Internet companies and network services led to the city being awarded the title: “Internet Capital” by a business magazine in 2003. One of the first German Internet providers, XLINK, was established here in 1989 which had begun as a university research project. kn
The first German email server on today’s Internet resulted from a project aiming to enable the German Research Network (DFN) to establish connections to international networks. Professor Werner Zorn was the project manager. I was hired by Professor Zorn in 1983 to operate new computers. These machines were equipped with the UNIX operating system, which was delivered in source code and could be customized to meet the needs of the computer science department. UNIX already included Internet protocols such as SMTP, FTP, TCP/IP, etc., which had been introduced as the standard on the ARPAnet (now the Internet) on January 1, 1983. This system formed the basis of the DFN project. The ARPAnet, which had emerged from a military research project, also included the entire MILnet, the network of the US Department of Defense. Although MILnet was separated from the ARPAnet for security reasons in 1983, the United States remained reluctant to connect non-US institutions directly to the ARPAnet. The main concerns were related to espionage from behind the Iron Curtain. To enable global communication for research and science, a project called CSNet (Computer Science Network) was established. CSNet primarily offered an extended mail service but was also directly connected to the ARPAnet. One of CSNet’s goals was to link research institutions in countries outside the United States, with one access point per country. The project was intended to be self-supporting after its expiration. Via CSNet, it was possible to initiate email-controlled file transfers of documents also from the ARPAnet. In March 1984, I contacted the CSNet operators via the existing email account of Professor Gerhard Goos, who had been working in the Department of Informatics at Karlsruhe University since 1970. In early July 1984, I received the UNIX software necessary to establish a connection and operate an email server on CSNet. On August 3, 1984, I received “the first email” via this connection, confirming my announcement that the mail server for the German research community was ready for operation. This made Karlsruhe University the first non-US research institution outside the United States on CSNet. The system was used immediately and intensively. The biggest challenges initially were the lack of structured email addressing, transitions to various mostly proprietary email systems, and usage billing, for which software had to be developed. At CSNet’s request, I also implemented the CSNet software in France at the Agence de l’Informatique in April 1985. China was later also connected to the Karlsruhe server, with approval from the National Science Foundation (NSF). At that time, Karlsruhe was administratively and technically responsible for operating the name server for the Chinese domain .cn. However, internal unrest in China led to problems in 1989. The names of email senders could be used to easily locate their families in China, potentially leading to their detention. Consequently, the mail operator in China requested that it be disconnected from the network. CSNet was only a small step away from completing the connection to the ARPAnet, which had been my goal from the start. This was accomplished in the spring of 1985. Since the server name followed the CSNet convention to include the country code (germany.csnet), the name on the ARPAnet likewise became germany.arpa. These network names represented an initial attempt at structuring addresses. From that point forward, the Informatics Department at Karlsruhe University was fully integrated into the network world of the time. Subsequent tasks involved enabling other scientific institutions to access the Karlsruhe server and programming transitions to existing, closed email systems. All of this occurred before domain-based addresses (for example, .de or .com) existed. Computer names and addresses had to be stored locally as much as possible. This means, conversely, that data for recipients not connected in Karlsruhe were sent via the United States. Karlsruhe University bore the costs for connections to and from the United States, hence in both directions, passing them on to German participants. Data transport costs within the US were covered by the American research network (NSFnet). The ARPAnet was released for commercial use in 1989 when funding for inner-American Internet lines was terminated and the fall of the Berlin Wall led to the lifting of the Iron Curtain. After that, only the Internet remained. In the mid-1990s, the World Wide Web emerged, leading to the true conquest of the Internet, which in Germany had its origins in 1984 in Karlsruhe University’s Informatics Department. Michael Rotert
The fact that Germany’s first email was received at what is KIT today, represents in my view not only research ambition and openness to novelty, but also scientific exchange and international networking—and thus things that I personally also relate to KIT and its members. Dr. Ferdinand Leikam, director of the Historical Museums of the City of Karlsruhe