But progress is on the horizon in the Bundestag — the lower house of parliament — where lawmakers have been instructed by the parliamentary budget committee to ditch their trusty fax machines by the end of June, and rely on email instead for official communication.

As a member of Germany's governing coalition, Herbst has been working on legislation to make email a legally binding form of communication.

Herbst says the fax machine's long-exalted legal position in Germany boils down to widespread distrust of anything that isn't written in pen and ink on actual paper.

In March, the International Monetary Fund warned that if Germany wants to boost economic growth, it must reduce red tape and finally get round to digitizing properly.

He shows off his vast collection of old typewriters, desk phones, floppy disks and fax machines which now adorn the shelves of his own office.

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