From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zuse Z3 replica on display at
Deutsches Museum in
Munich
The
Z3 was an
electromechanical computer designed by
Konrad Zuse. It was the world's first working
programmable, fully automatic digital computer.
[1] The Z3 was built with 2000
relays, implementing a 22-
bit word length that operated at a
clock frequency of about 5–10
Hz.
[2] Program code and data were stored on punched
film.
The Z3 was completed in
Berlin in 1941. The
German Aircraft Research Institute used it to perform statistical analyses of
wing flutter.
[3] Zuse asked the German government for funding to replace the relays with fully electronic switches, but funding was denied during
World War II since such development was deemed "not war-important".
[4] The original Z3 was destroyed in 1943 during an
Allied bombardment of Berlin. A fully functioning replica was built in the 1960s by Zuse's company, Zuse
KG, and is on permanent display in the
Deutsches Museum.