ENTER Technikwelt Solothurn

[Text updating in progress] ENTER takes its name from the ‘enter’ key on a computer keyboard as well as the word to come inside. It is a museum of computers and consumer electronics. It began with private collections in the 1990s and was established formally in 2010. The completion of a new building is planned for 2023: An exhibition, academy and meeting zone around the history and future of technology is currently being created on more than 10,000 m² with the aim of preserving cultural heritage and introducing young people to technical professions.

In the current exhibition area, more than 10,000 objects can be marvelled at: computer hardware and software, computer peripherals, calculating machines, telecommunications, radio and TV equipment - from the first radio station to the computers of the present day. The tour begins with telegraph equipment and an Edison phonograph of 1880. The original control and transmission equipment of 1922 for Switzerland’s first radio station is preserved and many dozens of radios, in all shapes and sizes, fill the shelves. The museum has examples of the first electronic desk calculator of 1961 and a large IBM 370 data center of 1970. Visitors can see the first personal computer, the Apple 1 of 1976, and the first computer mouse of 1974. The ENTER Academy offers learning programmes for children and young people, starting at the age of 10.