Beautiful working antique Brunsviga A Calculator. Germany, 1920's

This sober and attractive pinwheel calculator is a Brunsviga model A, a real classic among the calculating machines manufactured in the early 20th century. The calculator is in good condition and works fine, performing the four basic arithmetic operations with exact results and fluid movements. The black-enameled casing is in quite good condition and the same can be said about the white numbers and decals. The mobile metal component parts are well preserved and show off a nostalgic age patina. The calculator stands on a solid oak wooden base. At the top of the machine we can see the brand name BRUNSVIGA with the serial number Nº 15654 to its left. Under these decals there is a circular mark with the inscription PATENT G.N. & C.C. a. A., related to the manufacturing company. Also, under the digit levers there is a riveted metal plate with the name and address of the French shop where the calculator was once sold: Maison F.R. MAERS ANVERS. A wonderful decorative detail and an infallible machine, this Brunsviga calculator will stand out in an elegant study or living room.Brunsviga Calculators History The firm Grimme, Natalis & Co (GNC) was established in 1871 to build sewing machines and domestic appliances at Braunschweig, Germany. In 1892 engineer Franz Trinks was instrumental in securing the manufacturing rights to the Odhner calculator patents. The first machines were built according to W.T. Odhner's 1890 design and were distributed under the brand name "Brunsviga" (Latin for Braunschweig). Trinks continued to develop and refine the Brunsviga calculator over a period of almost 30 years. The "new Brunsviga" range appeared in 1925, and the "13-series" in 1927. Production resumed after the 1939-45 war with a new range of 13-series machines, a motorised version of the stepped-drum machine, and a range of small adding machines. Grimme, Natalis & Co was originally established as a "Commanditgesellschaft auf Aktien". On its fiftieth anniversary in 1921 it became Grimme, Natalis & Co AG. In 1927 the name was changed to "Brunsviga Maschinenwerke Grimme, Natalis & Co AG", and later to just "Brunsviga Maschinenwerke AG" In 1957 Brunsviga entered into an agreement with Olympia Werke AG, which led ultimately to the company being absorbed into Olympia in 1959. Production continued for a time as the Brunsviga Division of Olympia, before coming to an end in the late 1960s. About half a million Brunsviga machines were produced over a period of almost eighty years. The Trinks-Brunsviga calculators work with the pinwheel system developed by W.T. Odhner in the 1870s. It was inspired in turn by the arithmometer designed by Leibniz in the 16th century.