Brunsviga MGs from the Brunsviga collection
There were 5 "MG" machines in the Brunsviga collection, and 1 G. Most of them come with patents, and patents are easy to find these days, so I'm including a list. If you want to see for yourself what other gems the Brunsviga catalog contains, become a member of the
IFHB, it is available as a PDF. This example of the Brunsviga catalog is owned by ACONIT, who also went through the trouble of digitizing it. Thus, all pictures from the catalog below are from the
ACONIT collection. The original copyright was with Brunsviga, who were absorbed into AEG Olympia AG, which was then split up into several entities that were each resold multiple times. At this point, it can no longer be easily determined with who the copyright currently lies. These pictures are reproduced here in good faith and for research purposes only.
These are the machines listed:
Zrz 1908-2 n°11524. This is listed as a Brunsviga G. It has two counter registers on top of each other, two result works below each other, and apparently results can be transferred from the top result register to the bottom one. Complements are not mentioned. It is not clear whether the lower result register can also be operated directly. The weight is 19kg, so it is a miniature machine, not a full size G. The museum record mentions that "around 1000 were built", but this is manifestly incorrect.
Zrz 1923-3 n°51261, the patent, 342367, listed with this machine is from 1920 and involves a calculator with two result works - that sort of fits - but it also has two counters that are not side-to-side but on top of each other, and it has 15 setting levers. A more recent picture is on rechenmaschinen-illustrated.com under Brunsviga MG
Zrz 1923-9, n° 13154. This is a Brunsviga G exactly like the two machines that lead you here. The serial number fits with 1907-1908, but the entry lists it as an MG an gives three patents from the 1920s that apparently have nothing to do with this calculator - n°s 325901, 375014, and 386268; They are respectively about carries in a counter register, a 2nd register that can be switched off (not the case in this machine) and two counters operated by the same counting tooth (also not applicable here).
Zrz 1925-6 n°68520. No patents are listed with this machine. It has a 2nd result register that is in front of the 1st one and can be switched off. Complements operation is manual in the rear register.
Zrz 1925-7 n°71484. As in the previous machine, but with the results on top of each other. The intermediate gears can be shifted and the bottom register can thus be switched off. Complements are in the top register here, both unlike in the large G. Four patents are mentioned 397234, 404886, 407208, and 422232;
Zrz 1926-4 n° 67.000. The catalog does not contain a picture, but a picture of this machine is on rechenmaschinen-illustrated.com under Brunsviga MG. Patent listed is n°419454. The other patent, 419657, is a wrong number. It is very similar to n° 68520, but the latter has a counter register to the left of the result, and this machine does not.
There is yet another machine, which is not in the Brunsviga catalog, but resides in the Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum. This is also a full size Brunsviga G, but with only one counter, at the left of the result in the carriage. Its serial n° is 14205. It can be found here
