Siemens

The story begins in 1847 Berlin, not in a garage, but in a workshop. Werner von Siemens, an inventor and electrical engineer, teamed up with Johann Georg Halske, a master mechanic, to form Telegraphen-Bauanstalt von Siemens & Halske. Their first product was a significant improvement on the telegraph, using a needle to point to letters instead of relying on Morse code. This innovation quickly led to their first major project in 1848: building Europe's first long-distance telegraph line. The company's ambition wasn't limited to Germany. By the 1850s, with the help of Werner's brothers, the company expanded into Russia and Great Britain, tackling massive projects like the 11,000 km Indo-European telegraph line from London to Calcutta. A pivotal moment came in 1866 when Werner von Siemens discovered the dynamo-electric principle, a breakthrough that enabled the generation of electricity and set the stage for the widespread use of electric power. The firm officially became a stock corporation, Siemens & Halske AG, in 1897. The 20th century saw a series of mergers, most notably the 1966 combination of three entities to form the modern Siemens AG. This consolidation created a powerhouse in industrial manufacturing. While the company went public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 1899, a more recent significant financial event was its listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2001 to solidify its global reach. Over the decades, Siemens has continually evolved, spinning off major divisions like Siemens Healthineers and Siemens Energy to focus on its core businesses of automation, digitalization, smart infrastructure, and mobility.