Rare Apple 1, up for auction

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(CNN) -- In this era of ever-accelerating technological development, we all tend to be so fixated on the gizmos of the future that we rarely take the time to think about the glorious technology of the past.

Fortunately, a treasure trove of rarities, oddities and tech "firsts" has been brought together -- including an experimental 17th century mechanical calculator, a hundred-year-old telephone and an incredibly rare, headline-grabbing Apple 1 computer -- to be sold at auction Saturday in Cologne, Germany.

While they may look dated today, the objects gathered by Auction Team Breker trace an evolution of technological thinking that stretches from the dawn of the industrial revolution through to the present day. It is a story of cutting edge tinkering; an inventors' hall of fame.

Basking in the limelight at the auction will be one of just six surviving functional Apple 1 computers -- a tech superstar which is likely to sell for a small fortune -- an estimated $400,000 -- propelled by bids from collectors, museums and Macolytes.

The Apple 1 was the first computer built by the California technology company. The computer was hand-assembled by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who, according to legend, financed the device's construction by selling his HP-65 calculator (co-founder Steve Jobs also sold his VW campervan).

Approximately 200 of the devices were made, of which fewer than 50 are thought to remain -- and only six in working order.

Company founder Uwe Breker said the sale is "unique in presenting masterpieces from the spectrum of antique technology, from the 17th century to the 21st."

Long before the current era of computers, the inventor Blaise Pascal designed a mechanical calculator in 1642 -- regarded by many as the first decisive step toward modern microprocessors.

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