On June 15, 2021, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and IBM officially unveiled Germany’s IBM Quantum System One at Ehningen near Stuttgart in the presence of Chancellor Angela Merkel, Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek, and Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg Winfried Kretschmann. The 27-qubit system was described at the time as the most powerful quantum computer in Europe, according to the Fraunhofer press release.
Industrial companies and research organizations could develop and test applied quantum software through the system, with all data remaining in Germany under German data protection law. Access was managed through the Fraunhofer Competence Network Quantum Computing, with a monthly license fee structure enabling flexible use by large corporations, SMEs, startups, and academic institutions.
Baden-Württemberg committed up to €40 million by 2024 for joint projects through the Fraunhofer Competence Center Quantum Computing in the state. The system represented the first IBM quantum computer installed outside IBM’s own data center in New York.