22 Computer Museums: A Guide for Engineers Traveling in Europe

We have compiled a list of interesting IT history collections available to visit in different parts of continental Europe. We think a stop at any of them can cool off a vacation or a business trip.



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The first industrial museums appeared in the second half of the 19th century. The basis of their collections was made up of mechanisms, devices and materials previously exhibited at world exhibitions, which since 1851 have been of great interest throughout the world. Then collections began to form, which became the basis of the scientific and technical museums of the twentieth century. A special method of narration, characteristic of such expositions, developed already in the 1960-70s, when even the oldest computers were not going to be copied to museums.



Now computers and other equipment fall into museum collections in four ways:

1. through targeted delivery of obsolete equipment to official museums of science and technology;
2. due to the purchase by museum specialists of computers sent for scrap;
3. from private collections;
4. through the natural accumulation of obsolete equipment and the organization of museums of samples of products or equipment.

Understanding the collected and searching for a universal concept remains a matter of time, the most important thing now is to preserve historical artifacts. Nonprofit funds often support the national computer heritage with government support, but at least half of the IT museums are private initiatives. The largest public collections are collected in the USA, but also in Europe there are enough thematic exhibitions worthy of attention. They are not always located in capitals or large cities, but they can be a great point on the plan for future car travel.

Computer museums in European countries (alphabetically):

1. Austria, Fair Piravart, Ӧ.Computermuseum

Address: Professor-Knesl-Platz 12, 2222 Bad Pirawarth

How to get there: considering the club format of the museum, it makes sense to contact the administration first

Opening hours: 2 p.m. - 10 p.m.







The history of Austrian computing technology is notable, for example, because one of the first transistor computers was created here, which received the nickname Mailüfterl . The Com.Computermuseum is located in a real village in northeast Austria, halfway between Vienna and the borders with Slovakia and Slovenia. The collection consists mainly of personal computers. First of all, this is an interest club, where visitors from different countries come, and residents of the surrounding area turn to repair old or not very old equipment.

2. Belgium, Namur, NAM-IP Museum

Address: Henri Blès Street 192A, B5000 Namur

How to get there: by ticket for 8 euros

Opening hours: April — October: Tuesday — Saturday 10: 00-17: 00; November — March: Monday — Friday, 10: 00-17: 00







The Belgian division of Unisys Corporation recently moved to the capital of Wallonia, a medieval city with a Roman fortress, located 65 km from Brussels. These are the heirs of IT giants such as Burroughs and UNIVAC . The first version of the local museum was assembled by enthusiasts from among the staff. NAM-IP is now a huge collection of digital artifacts that has several thousand storage units. As they write on the page of the museum itself, this is the largest collection "within a radius of 375 km", apparently, to Paris.

3. Hungary, Szeged, John von Neumann Computer Society Collection

Address: Szeged, Kálvária Sgt. 23

How to get there: on a ticket for 900 forints (about 3 euros)

Opening hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 08: 00-16-00; Wednesday, Friday Saturday 09: 00-16: 00







Hungary became famous not only for Videoton terminals . In 1903, John von Neumann was born in Budapest, the author of the very Neumann or Princeton computer architecture . The John von Neumann Computer Society collection is stored in Szeged, the third largest city in Hungary. It has about 15,000 storage units, including a space satellite, mainframes and game consoles, as well as the first Hungarian computer Primo available to mass consumers.

4. Germany, Kiel, Computer Museum at the Institute of Applied Sciences Kiel.

Address: Sokratesplatz 1, 24149 Kiel

How to get there: on a ticket for 6 euros (or for 4.5 for schoolchildren, students, visitors over 65 and other preferential categories)

Opening hours: Saturdays and Sundays 14: 00-18: 00







German developments in the field of computer technology are based on long traditions: Albert Nestler's logarithmic lines were used in almost all strategically important projects of the mid-20th century. Berliner Konrad Zuse was one of the pioneers of cybernetics, and the Siemens and the triumph of adlers spread throughout Western Europe. Kiel is an important and wealthy Baltic port with a strong technical school; the local university was founded in 1665. Here is the Computer Museum at the Kiel Institute of Applied Sciences. The exposition occupies 800 m² with mainframes, mini-computers, early personal computers, peripherals and laptops.

5. Germany, Munich, Museum of Germany

Address: Museumsinsel 1, 80538 Munich

How to get there: by ticket for 14 euros (for 4.5 euros for schoolchildren, students and preferential categories of visitors, or 8 euros per person for groups of more than 20 people)

Opening hours: every day, except public holidays, 09: 00-17: 00







Munich is the capital of Bavaria, the birthplace of the Oktoberfest and the richest football club, the most expensive city in Germany. The city will have at least a dozen world-class museums, one of which is the German Museum , something like the Moscow Exhibition of Economic Achievements. And although the museum is not entirely about computers, the collection here is so rich that you can not miss it. Computers of various forms and different manufacturers occupy 1400 m², the total number of exhibits is 700 units: from mechanical devices to large automated systems.

6. Germany, Stuttgart, Computer Museum at the Faculty of Computer Science, University of Stuttgart

Address: Universitaet Stuttgart, Institut fuer Softwaretechnologie Universitaetsstrasse 38, 70569 Stuttgart

How to get there: by appointment

Opening hours: every Tuesday 16: 15-18: 30







In a small but economically important German state of Baden-Wurtenberg , the birthplace of Mercedes and Porsche, the technology is almost elevated to the status of a cult. The University of Stuttgart has its own Computer Museum at the Faculty of Computer Science. The collection here is very serious, there are mini-computers, and parts of large computers, and early PCs.

7. Greece, Athens, Greek Museum of Computers

Address: Petrou Spiropoulou 2 & Thessalonikis. Moschato, Athenas

How to get there: on tickets for 4 euros (or for 3 euros for schoolchildren and students)

Opening hours: Monday — Friday 09: 00-16: 00







The collection of the Greek Museum of Computers covers the period from 1970 to the mid-1990s. Here are mini-computers, 280 personal computers, peripherals, servers and telephones, as well as programs on different media with a total of 5100.

8. Denmark, the commune of Ballerup, the project of the Museum of the Danish Society for the History of Information

Address: Magleparken 5, 2750 Ballerup

How to get there: write and negotiate with the custodians







Computing in Denmark was made at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and the Contex-20 arithmometer became a real hit of the 1960s. The main meeting devoted to the history of Danish IT is now held at a university college in Copenhagen. The collection includes locally produced equipment, as well as a huge archive of books, magazines and paper documents. The public exposition of the Danish Society for the History of Information is still preparing for the opening, but apparently it will become the most important technical information and entertainment museum.

9. Spain, Valencia, Museum of Informatics

Address: Camí de Vera, 14, 46022 València

How to get there: by ticket for 4 euros (or for 3 for preferential categories of visitors)

Opening hours: Monday — Friday 09: 00-16: 00







The development of computer technology in Spain went along the European mainstream, although it could not do without several extraordinary branches. For example, in the late 1960s, the Catalan company Telesincro , using the architecture of one of the Philips machines and an IBM typewriter, made the first accounting computer in Spain - Factor-P . The Polytechnic University of Valencia stores a large collection of personal computers, many exhibits can be touched, many offers for groups (including classes on "vintage computer science").

10. Spain, Cáceres, Museum of Computer History

Address: San Juan Square, 13, Lower Left. 10.003 Cáceres

How to get there: on a ticket for 7 euros (there are benefits for groups, children and students)

Opening hours: Wednesday — Saturday 11: 00-14-00 and 18: 00-21: 00, Sunday 11: 00-14: 00







The small and picturesque town of Cáceres in the autonomous region of Extremadura has no direct relation to the history of IT. The local Museum of Computer History is driven by personal enthusiasm, and its hospitable director Carlos on TripAdvisor is thanked by many visitors. Here you can see a serious collection of personal computers manufactured from the late 1970s to the early 2000s.



11. Spain, Madrid, Museum of Informatics Garcia Santesmases



Address:: C / Professor José García Santesmases 9, 28040 Madrid

How to get there: by appointment and for a voluntary contribution

Opening hours: Monday — Friday 09: 00-14: 00







The Museum at the Faculty of Computer Science of the University of Communications of Madrid is named after the IT pioneer in Spain , who managed to work with Howard Aiken himself. The museum has unique exhibits - devices developed at the university itself since the 1950s, including the analog computing machine of Santesmases himself, as well as more familiar devices - parts of large computers, personal computers and even video game machines.



12. Italy, Commune Camburzano, Computer Museum Foundation



Address: Via per Occhieppo, 29, 13891 Camburzano (Biella)

How to get there: by appointment, filling out the form in Italian

Opening hours: by agreement







Museums in northern Italy, we recently devoted a separate material , but in this selection they should have found a place. Italian manufacturers of computer and office equipment in Italy presented several real hits to the world, just recall the Olivetti Lettera 22 typewriter or the Olivetti Programma 101 programmable calculator. There is no permanent access to the collection of the Computer Museum foundation , but you can agree on viewing. The museum in the Piedmontese village keeps a large collection, which contains not only old PCs, but also a variety of electronic equipment written off by Italian enterprises.



13. Italy, Ivrea, Tecnhologicamente Laboratory Museum



Address: Piazza San Francesco d'Assisi 4 10015 Ivrea (TO)

How to get there: on tickets for 5 euros (or 3 euros for preferential categories of visitors)

Opening hours: only on weekends and depending on the season - it is better to clarify before the trip







The town in Piedmont was once the center of the family empire of Olivetti, the company’s headquarters, production buildings and social infrastructure buildings of the factory have been preserved here. It can be known to the modern generation of engineers that the main DIY platform, Arduino , was invented here. The Olivetti legacy at the Tecnhologicamente Museum-Laboratory is distributed in three large departments: typewriters, calculators, computers. Recommended for viewing by anyone interested in industrial design.



14. Latvia, Sigulda, Computer Museum



Address: Dailes iela 26, Peltes, Siguldas pagasts, LV-2150

How to get there: by contacting the owner

Opening hours: by agreement







60 kilometers from Riga, in one of the main tourist centers of Latvia, there is a private museum of personal computers , where there are Soviet, European, and American models. The collection also includes calculators, arithmometers and peripherals, including fairly rare instances.



15. Netherlands, Zwolle, Bonami Games and Computers Museum



Address: Ossenkamp 4, 8024AE Zwolle

How to get there: on a ticket for 15 euros (children under 4 years old are free)

Opening hours: every day except Monday 10: 00-17: 00 (Friday — Saturday 10: 00-17: 00 and 18: 00-22: 00)







Of course, the Netherlands as the birthplace of the Philips concern has its own national achievements in IT, although the Dutch are known not for computers, but for peripherals and graphics devices. An important transport hub and the former Hanseatic city of Zwolle, which is quite large by the standards of Western Europe, is located 100 kilometers from Amsterdam towards the border with Germany. Here is the leisure center Bonami Games and Computers Museum with a fairly comprehensive collection of video games, game stations, personal computers and even large computers that make up the famous IBM System / 360. The games here, of course, can be played.



16. Poland, Katowice, Museum of the History of Computers and Informatics



Address: Plac Sejmu Śląskiego 2 Katowice, entrance from ul. SIenkiewicza 28

How to get there: on a ticket for 18 zlotys (approximately 4.5 euros)

Opening hours: excursions at 15:00 on Saturdays, you must first sign up







Katowice is the capital of the Silesian Voivodeship and the center of a huge industrial agglomeration, located halfway between Krakow and Wroclaw. The local Museum of the History of Computers and Informatics presents almost 4,000 items, including fragments of large computers, mini-computers and PCs, including those made in Poland. Polish computer technology developed in a special way, combining the installations of the Soviet Union, in particular, participation in the program for creating the EU computer , with local developments. Polish analog AKAT-1 is still one of the most recognizable images among all retro devices.



17. Portugal, Lisbon, Museum of Communications



Address: Fundação Portuguesa das Comunicações, Rua do Instituto Industrial, 16, 1200-225 Lisboa

How to get there: on a ticket for 5 euros (there are benefits)

Opening hours: Monday — Friday 10: 00-18: 00, Saturday 14: 00-18: 00 (the last Thursday of the month from 18:00 to 22:00 admission is free)







In the relatively small department of the Museum of Communications under the country's main regulator of communication standards, terminals, various PCs, fragments of mini-computers, telephones and other means of communication are exhibited.



18. Ukraine, Kiev / Kharkov, Software and Computer Museum



Addresses: Kiev, st. Saksaganskogo 40/85, b / c "DNA" ; <Kharkov, Pushkinskaya st. 79/1, hostel "Giant" NTU KhPI

How to get there: free, by appointment

Opening hours: Tuesday — Sunday 10: 00-20: 00 (entrance until 19:00)







Ukraine, even as part of the USSR, had its own strong theoretical school and production base for the development of IT. It was in Kiev in the laboratory of Academician Lebedev that one of the first computers in continental Europe was assembled. And after Lebedev did leave for Moscow, his place was taken by another pioneer of Soviet cybernetics - academician Glushkov . There are branches of the Museum of Programs and Computers in two Ukrainian cities at once, however, their exhibits mainly date back to the era of personal computers.



19. Finland, Tampere, Vapriikki



Address: Tampere, Tampella area, Alaverstaanraitti 5

How to get there: by ticket for 13 euros (for children from 7 to 17 years old - 6 euros)

Opening hours: Tuesday — Sunday 10: 00-18: 00







Finnish information technology is well known all over the world, which is worth only the unkillable phones Nokia 3310 or Angry Birds. In the city of Tampere, the old factory houses the Vapriikki Museum and Entertainment Complex, dedicated to the history of media, with its own computer department.



20. Finland, Helsinki, Tietokonemuseo ATA



Address: Tyynenmerenkatu 11, Helsinki (4th-5th floor of Verkkokauppa shopping center)

How to get there: by appointment

Opening hours: by agreement







Tietokonemuseo ATA - a private museum in the capital of Finland - is mainly dedicated to personal computers and game consoles of the 1980-1990s. Although the emphasis here is shifted towards games, there are serious computers in the collection.



21. Switzerland, Lausanne, Bolo Museum



Address: EPFL - Building INF, Station 14, 1015 Lausanne

How to get there: admission is free

Opening hours: Monday — Friday 08: 00-19: 00







A private project by Yves Bolognini, an engineer at a large European IT company and a collector of computer artifacts, is one of the largest public meetings of computer technology. Here are presented both large computers and personal computers of different years, as well as rare workstations developed in Switzerland. The construction of the museum building is temporarily frozen, now the collection is available at the Faculty of Computer Science and Communications of the Federal Polytechnic Institute of Lausanne.



22. Sweden, Linköpping, Datamuseet IT-ceum



Address: c / o Östergötlands museum, Raoul Wallenbergs plats, 581 02 Linköping







Just south of Stockholm, in the university city of Linköping, is the Datamuseet IT-ceum , the only Swedish museum dedicated exclusively to the history of IT. Now it is closed for repairs (it will open in 2021), but its employees conduct lectures and organize exhibitions at other venues in central Sweden.