Berlin Tempelhof Harbor Cranes

One hundred years ago most goods from and to Berlin were shipped by river boats. At Tempelhof harbor, some of the large cranes from that period have been beautifully restored. Back then high-tech machines, they have become testimonies of the fast evolution of technology and transport in the last century.

British 1970's calculator

At its time, this British made (!) calculator was a state of the art high tech product. I got it from my father some 10 years ago when he ceased his work as a civil engineer. It runs on three AA batteries (not for very long) and features the typical red display as used by many Texas Instruments calculators. According to my dad, the greatest thing about this machine was its memory function. It allowed the user to store one (yes, one) result.



R2D2 - also 1970's, but from a different galaxy

Olympia Typewriter meets Wireless Keyboard

The other day my son Léon put away his wireless Logitech keyboard for my 1960's German made Olympic Monica typewriter. He was positively surprised how easy you can get letters on a piece of paper. No password, no electricity, no screen and no printer required. When I told him that too many typos on a page required retyping the whole sheet, he gladly turned back to his iMac.

Listen to the Radio the 1950's way

This is not some sort of cheap retro radio made in lousy plastic. It is an original 1950's long, medium and short wave AM radio receiver Talisman 308U made in the then Czechoslovak Republic by the company Tesla. Yes, Tesla, which of course has nothing to do with the American sports car manufacturer. I bought it some years ago in Bucharest for a few Euros. It still works nicely. Since Germany has shut down all its AM stations, I only can receive Radio Moscow during daytime. At night a wide choice of mostly exotic stations are available. The kids love to turn that dial up and down for hours and hours. Tubes, buttons and dials still fascinate in the 21st century.



See radiomuseum.org for details about the Talisman 308U