Mathematics Museum (Arithmeum), Bonn

The Mathematics Museum of the University of Bonn, offers a captivating journey through the history of computation-from ancient abaci to modern microchips, housing the world’s most extensive collection of historical calculating machines. It began life in the 1970s when Professor Bernhard Korte started amassing mechanical calculators that would later form the core of the museum’s exhibits.

Opened in 2008, the museum’s steel-and-glass architecture embodies the “transparency of science,” symbolizing the fusion of art, architecture, and mathematics. Spanning four floors, the museum features over 1,200 mechanical calculators in its permanent display "Calculating in Olden and Modern Times", alongside approximately 4,000 slide rules from the renowned Schuitema collection.

In addition, visitors can explore rare historical texts dating back to Gutenberg’s era, the iconic Enigma cipher machine, and early punch-card computers by Hollerith. The interplay of mathematics, design, and technology is further celebrated through geometric-concrete art installations.

The Mathematics Museum offers an interactive experience, featuring multimedia stations where visitors can experiment with designing simple microchips, along with demonstration models that provide hands-on exploration of historical counting and calculation techniques.