I Have main unit.
type computer
country Germany
year 1982
os BASF OS, Basic, CP/M
cpu Z80A
speed 4 MHz
ram 64 KB
rom 16 KB
graphic built-in monitor 24×80
colors monochrome
sound peeper
ports serial, centronigs
The BASF 7130 — A Rare Glimpse Into West Germany’s Computing Ambition
The BASF 7130 is one of the most unusual and obscure personal computers of the early 1980s, produced by BASF AG — a company far better known for magnetic tape, floppy disks, and chemicals than for computing hardware. Released in 1982 from Ludwigshafen, West Germany, the 7130 represents BASF’s brief and fascinating foray into the personal computer market.
Origins and Design
The machine has a remarkable origin story. It was based on a design by the American company DigiLog, which had developed a personal computer with a built-in printer (paper emerged from the top of the unit). However, the DigiLog design suffered from serious reliability issues — problems with the power supply, monitor control, and mechanical construction meant it was never commercially viable for the American market. BASF acquired and reworked the design, producing a significantly revised all-in-one machine that became the 7100 series.
The result was a monolithic desktop unit weighing over 25 kg, combining a 12-inch green phosphor monitor, a 5.25″ floppy disk drive (160 KB), a 5 MB hard disk, and the computer itself — all in a single enclosure. It was an impressive piece of industrial German engineering.
Hardware
At the heart of the BASF 7130 beat not one but two Zilog Z80A processors running at 4 MHz, a dual-CPU configuration that was unusual for personal computers of the era. The system came with 64 KB of RAM and 16 KB of ROM, with an 80×24 character monochrome display — business-oriented and functional rather than flashy.
Storage was handled by the built-in 5.25″ floppy drive offering 160 KB capacity, complemented by the integrated 5 MB hard disk — a luxury at the time. Connectivity was provided through RS-232 serial and Centronics parallel ports, making it compatible with the printers and peripherals of the day.
Software
The 7130 ran BASF’s own operating system called BOS (BASF Operating System), as well as CP/M — the dominant business operating system of the early 1980s before MS-DOS took over. This CP/M compatibility meant access to a wide library of business software including WordStar, dBASE II, and Lotus 1-2-3 precursors, making the machine genuinely useful in a professional office environment.
Market and Legacy
The BASF 7130 was positioned firmly as a business machine. At launch its price was approximately 11,400,000 Italian lire (roughly equivalent to several thousand Deutsche Marks), placing it well beyond the reach of home users. It was sold primarily to businesses and enterprises that needed a reliable, self-contained workstation.
BASF’s venture into personal computing was extremely brief — the company quickly retreated to its core businesses and the 7100 series was produced in very small numbers. This makes surviving examples exceptionally rare today. Very few museums and private collectors worldwide have one, which makes this specimen in the Computer Museum Ata collection a genuinely significant historical artifact.
Why It Matters
The BASF 7130 tells a story of the early 1980s computing landscape that is often overlooked: the period when large industrial companies across Europe experimented with entering the personal computer market before IBM, Apple, and a handful of others came to dominate. It is a reminder that computing history was written not just in Silicon Valley, but also in the chemical plants and engineering offices of West Germany.
Finding a working BASF 7130 today is extraordinarily difficult — which makes the Computer Museum Ata’s example all the more remarkable.