Schreibmaschinenmuseum Betzwieser (Betzwieser Typewriter Museum)

The private museum displays around 200 typewriters, mainly from the period between 1870 and 1930, but also from the subsequent period up to around 1990. This allows visitors to trace the history of the typewriter and its triumphant advance into the world of work. After the invention of the first ‘writing machine’ by South Tyrolean carpenter Peter Mitterhofer in 1864, no one recognised the significance of this invention. However, following the machine built by Sholes and Glidden in 1873, industrial production began rapidly, first in the USA and shortly afterwards in Germany. Every business now needed a typewriter, which had to be produced. Thousands of new jobs were created. The typewriter not only revolutionised office technology, but also created completely new jobs for women in offices, especially in the 1920s. It thus contributed significantly to the professional emancipation of women. A walk through the museum reveals an important social development that the typewriter brought about as a technical cultural asset. Some of the machines can even be tried out for yourself.

Many exhibits feature QR codes that provide detailed background information about their technology, history and previous users via smartphone: for example, which typewriter was used by the visually impaired philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche in 1882? What equipment did the Scholl siblings use to produce their anti-Hitler leaflets in 1943? And what device enabled Kurt Landauer to save FC Bayern from bankruptcy in 1955?

Last edited on 15.12.2025