Computer history

IBM donates “Mailüfterl” to the Technical Museum

Heinz Zemanek in front of his probably most important creation, the transistor computer "Mailüfterl".

(Bild: APA/SCHNEIDER HARALD)

A piece of computer history has been on display at the Vienna Museum of Technology for 50 years: the "Mailüfterl" was the first transistor computer in Europe, developed and built from 1954 by a team led by Austrian computer pioneer Heinz Zemanek. The team and computer were taken over by IBM in 1961 and were finally loaned to the company in 1973. The company has now donated the famous exhibit to the museum.

"International pioneering achievements such as the 'Mailüfterl' do not belong in company archives. They belong in top museums like the Vienna Technical Museum," said IBM Austria General Director Marco Porak at the official handover on Tuesday. The 50th anniversary was the perfect time for the company to finally make the donation, emphasized Porak, pointing out the importance of making science accessible, especially for younger generations. In this way, "pioneering history can be the impetus for exciting research careers in the future".

Components begged together
Heinz Zemanek (1920-2014) began building his first computer in 1950 as an assistant at what was then the Vienna University of Technology (now TU Wien). The technician quickly realized that the tubes that dominated at the time were not suitable for the construction of "calculating machines". In 1954, he therefore set about developing a fully transistorized computer - at this time, the first transistor computers were also being built in the USA and Great Britain. Without an official contract, Zemanek had to scrounge together the money and the components.

By 1958, he and his team had built one of the first computers in the world to work entirely with transistors - it was the first on the European mainland. Each of the 3,000 transistors and 5,000 germanium diodes were soldered onto 1,500 boards measuring around 10 x 15 centimetres, plus 15,000 resistors, 5,000 capacitors, 3,000 inductors and 20 kilometers of switching wire - a total of 100,000 solder joints.

Without a screen and keyboard, input and output was via punched tape, the dimensions of the computer were considerable at several meters long and high - the clock frequency, on the other hand, was modest from today's perspective: 132 kilohertz.

The "Mailüfterl" can be seen on the fourth floor of the Technical Museum in the Media Worlds section.

(Bild: FLIESZER Martina; Technisches Museum Wien)

"Mailüfterl" instead of whirlwind
The technicians chose the name "Mailüfterl" because of "the rather slow transistors that were available to us", recalled Zemanek in an earlier interview. This would not have produced a whirlwind or typhoon, as such computers were called in the USA at the time, but only a "Mailüfterl".

Once the hardware had been designed, the team moved on to programming and the transition from hardware to software. On 27 May 1958, the "Mailüfterl" determined the prime number 5073548261 in 66 minutes. In 1959, a music theory program was developed for the twelve-tone composer Hanns Jelinek and the task was solved in 60 hours. To avoid having to be at the institute all the time for these long computing times, the technicians connected the "Mailüfterl" to the telephone. This allowed them to call from home and use the audible "melody" to determine whether the program was running.

IBM took over the development team
In 1961, Zemanek and his group moved to IBM, and the company provided the team with a laboratory in Vienna. The "Mailüfterl" was also bought from the state by IBM and moved to the new IBM laboratory before the computer was decommissioned in 1966. Zemanek and his group soon concentrated on programming languages and developed the "Vienna Definition Language", the largest programming language at the time, and subsequently the "Vienna Definition Method". In 1976, Zemanek was appointed IBM Fellow, until then he was also head of the IBM laboratory.

The Technical Museum received the "Mailüfterl" on loan from IBM in 1973 and exhibited it in the newly opened "Data Processing" department from May 1974. Today, the piece of computer history can be seen on the fourth floor in the Media Worlds department. For TMW director Peter Aufreiter, "the transistor computer was and is a highlight of the museum" and will continue to be part of the educational program.