11-005. Germany, circa 1960, unsigned. The Reihenschieber hand cypher system combines elements of a pseudorandom key stream with a limited number of random mixed alphabets. The system is composed of a hand-held plastic device used for deriving a pseudorandom numerical key. The device itself comprises three principal parts: a frame, a set of 26 removable rods, and a sliding indicator. Ten rods, selected from the set of 26, are clipped into the holding frame and sliding indicator for use. This Reihenschieber is in very good working condition, in its original thick leather case, and comes with a copy of the original 1960 manual "Anleitung zum Bendeswehr-Handschlussel (Reihenschieberververfahren)." However, only 10 of the original set of 26 rods are present (which is sufficient to fully fill the holding frame and allow the device to be used).
See pages 141-154 in CRYPTOLOGIA Volume XX Number 2, April 1996 for a detailed article on the Reihenschieber by Michael can der Meulen. The Reihenschieber is described in CRYPTOLOGIA as a "high-grade hand cipher system of the late nineteen fifties, which was authorized for the encryption of national-level messages of all classification categories". The Reihenschieber was developed during 1957, used into the early 1960's, and finally declassified in 1992. This is in line with the "thirty year rule" employed by some countries - the period of time before they will release it to collectors etc.
