Zuse Z1 Lost
Zuse Z1
KindMachine
Introduced1938
Discontinued1938
StatusLost
ManufacturerKonrad Zuse
ClassEarly computer
PlatformMechanical, floating point
Sourcezuse.zib.de ↗
A mechanical floating-point computer Zuse built in his parents' living room — programmable from punched tape, though unreliable. Destroyed in a wartime bombing raid; a faithful replica stands in Berlin.
19251950197520002025
Created by Konrad Zuse
Built 1936–38 in the Zuse family living room in Berlin, the Z1 used floating-point arithmetic — binary floating point, unheard of — and read instructions from punched 35mm film. Its mechanical slotted plates were too imprecise to be reliable, and Zuse moved to relays for the Z2 and Z3.
The original was destroyed in a 1943 bombing raid. Zuse built a replica for Berlin's Museum für Verkehr und Technik in the 1980s — it is the object visitors see today.