Konrad Zuse builds the Z2

1940
Konrad Zuse builds the Z2

In 1940, Konrad Zuse completes construction of the Z2, an electromechanical computer.

The Z2 was an improved version of the Z1, using the same mechanical memory. Like the Z1, Zuse built the Z2 in the living room of his parents' Berlin apartment.

The differences between the Z1 and Z2 included:

  • Improved arithmetic and control logic, using electrical relay circuits
  • 16-bit fixed-point arithmetic, rather than the Z1's 22-bit floating point.

In 1940, the Z2 was presented to an audience of the Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt in Berlin-Adlershof.

The Z2 was destroyed by the bombing of Berlin in December 1943, during World War II.

Related information:

Image:

  • Drawing of the Zuse Z2
    Credit: Morn, Konrad Zuse, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.


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