In 1844, Siemens was fortunate enough to visit the first French Industrial Exposition held in Paris and was greatly inspired. After returning to Berlin, he carefully reviewed his research career and decided to give up his previous inventions and engage in rigorous academic work.
In 1845, Siemens published several important scientific papers. The following year, his interest turned to telegraphy—a field in which he would become famous. In 1846, it was discovered that Eucommia ulmoides had good electrical insulation properties and could be used to make cable insulation. Soon, communication cables were made. In 1846, Werner Siemens retired from the army. He gave up the pension he should have received after serving as an officer for 12 years, because if he wanted to receive that compensation, he had to submit a disability report to prove that he retired in accordance with the regulations. However, Werner-Siemens believed that he was healthy. He firmly believed that the telegraph industry, which was still a new thing at the time, had a bright future and that its large-scale application would create huge wealth. He was the one who saw the opportunity and planned to seize it. people.
In 1847, Werner-Siemens and Halsk jointly founded the Siemens-Halske Telegraph Factory. Halske is a skilled machinist. He helped Siemens create the pointer telegraph, and later, he created the wire die-casting machine. A tacit cooperation formed between them, with Werner-Siemens coming up with the idea and the machinist Halske turning it into reality. Before the company was founded, Werner-Siemens, who had extensive contacts in the state telegraph department, had won a large order—to lay an underground telegraph line from Berlin to Frankfurt. This was the first underground telegraph line in the world. In 1847, in order to find a sufficiently durable insulating material, Siemens wrapped copper wires in hot gum to make insulated wires. In the same year, the world's first long underground telegraph line appeared, which was laid using this kind of wire. This success further strengthened Siemens' determination to devote itself to the telegraph industry. In 1847, Siemens established a telegraph equipment manufacturing factory in partnership with others. The factory developed rapidly and soon established branches in the capitals of many European countries. During the European Revolution of 1848, Siemens participated in some political and military activities, but that was not his interest. As soon as peace was restored, he returned to Berlin and resumed his research. From then on, Siemens devoted more energy to research and eventually became the world-famous German "Father of Electronics and Electrics".
On October 1, 1852, the 36-year-old Siemens married Mathilde Drummann. The following year, the eldest son Arnold was born. In 1855, second son William was born. Mathilde died of illness after giving birth to two children for Siemens. In 1869, Siemens and Miss Antony held a wedding. In 1870 their son Hertha was born. In 1872, Siemens' youngest son came to the world. When his sons grew up, they got married and had children, and Siemens, who had many children and grandchildren, enjoyed the happiness of his family in his later years. In March 1849, King Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia was elected as the successor king of Germany. At this time, the line from Frankfurt to Berlin was connected in time. After the election results were announced at the Paul Church in Frankfurt, they were sent by underground telegraph an hour later. The line reached Berlin. Next, the Siemens-Halske Company undertook several projects to lay telegraph lines. However, the success did not last long. The immaturity of the technology, insufficient conductor insulation and rush in construction caused the laid lines to fail to work properly soon. The director of the Prussian Army Telegraph Management Division stopped cooperation with Siemens, and the young company suddenly fell into crisis. Siemens-Halske, whose diversified operations were in trouble, did not recover because of the loss of its largest domestic customer. Entrepreneurs anticipated this risk and took measures in advance. They tried to diversify their products and markets.
Later, Werner-Siemens came up with a basic principle on which the company would act in all electrical fields. In addition to laying telegraph lines, the company also produced railway signals and water meters designed specifically for the British market. It also produced alcohol meters, which were sold to government tax authorities to assist them in determining the level of alcohol duty.
In 1866, Werner-Siemens developed a DC generator, which was initially used for military purposes. After further improvements in power and load capacity, he found that this machine also had extensive applications in the fields of trams and electrical engines. Application prospects. In 1879, Siemens installed street lights on the streets of Berlin. In 1880, the elevator was manufactured. In 1881, Siemens established the first electronic bus transportation system, allowing trams to travel in the suburbs of Berlin. Beginning in 1877, telephones also joined the company's product lineup. Siemens improved upon the telephone invented by Graham Bell but not yet patented in Germany. Sales of this phone exceeded 10,000 units in the first three years. Werner-Siemens is good at improving other people's inventions. Through his troubles, the performance of the products has been greatly improved, and this can also circumvent the constraints of patent laws. In practice, Werner-Siemens realized that companies must constantly improve product performance according to changes in market demand and provide consumers with the best products. Of course, this kind of improvement is not only improving other people's products and expanding product lines, but also including continuous improvement of existing products. Of course, the mining and smelting industries established by the Siemens brothers must also be mentioned. They proposed the open-hearth steelmaking method, using high-temperature recuperation furnaces to directly smelt iron sand into steel, innovating the steelmaking process. Therefore, Siemens Steel Manufacturing Plant is also at the forefront of the European steel manufacturing industry.
Siemens started to get involved in mining operations because the Russian branch did not find enough business after completing the projects commissioned by the government, and contracting the copper mines in the Caucasus was very profitable, so the branch’s The person in charge suggested that the company enter the mining industry. In areas with poor infrastructure, operating mines using modern principles requires a large amount of capital. For the sake of caution, Werner-Siemens personally visited the Caucasus region for inspections. Once the factory buildings and smelting equipment were ready, recruiting workers became a problem. The local residents have nothing to pursue in life. They live in underground caves and are very lazy. How can we mobilize their enthusiasm? Werner-Siemens thought of a clever idea. They set out to promote the comfort of stone and brick houses to women and cultivate their vanity nature. In order to meet their ever-increasing demands for quality of life, men have to work harder.
In terms of market diversification, Siemens-Halske has gone further. This 160-year-old enterprise began its international expansion in its early days. Werner Siemens' younger brother William, who immigrated to the UK, was one of his important assistants. In addition to promoting the differential regulator he invented, he was also Siemens' business agent in the UK. In 1850, William established a representative office in the UK, and in 1858, the company was officially established. The company's core business is to manufacture special cables and undertake submarine cable laying projects commissioned by the government. For this purpose, the company has specially established a manufacturing plant to provide products for submarine cable lines. Starting operations in Russia is what Werner-Siemens calls a key career turning point. In 1849, Colonel Lueders, who was commissioned by the government to inspect European telegraph communications, contacted Siemens. Under his introduction, the Russian government ordered machinery and equipment from the Siemens-Halske Company. In 1853, the Siemens-Halske Company undertook the project of laying a telegraph line from Finland to Crimea. This line is more than 10,000 kilometers long. The repair and maintenance of the line is also a big problem for the Russian government. Siemens-Halske took over this task and made a lot of money. In 1855, the Russian branch was established in Petersburg, led by the founder's brother Carl Siemens. In the late 1870s, Austria became a new area of ??expansion. In 1879, a branch was established in Vienna with the purpose of opening up the Eastern European market. In 1892, for the same purpose of opening up the market, the American branch was also established. However, this time it was a bad start and the branch was forced to close soon.
During this period, international development was an important strategy for the company, and branches were established in almost all key markets.
The war brought unbearable suffering to the residents and was also a devastating disaster to the businesses involved. However, some speculators took advantage of the chaos to exploit the national crisis. Siemens once played such a disgraceful role. In World War I, Germany, as a defeated country, was severely weakened. Its overseas industries were confiscated and its patent rights became waste paper. Siemens feels this pressure deeply. They had no choice but to join forces with other companies to overcome the difficulties together, and transferred the research and development of electrical technology and equipment that was expressly prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles to other European countries, and eventually developed into the largest electrical company in Europe. The insight of leader Carl Friedrich was an important factor in helping Siemens quickly regain its leading position among global electrical engineering companies after the war. In a conversation in 1933, Karl-Friedrich said: "Our company is based on electrical engineering and precision engineering, and it has undergone a natural development; one branch has led to another; sometimes, One branch begets another. The size of the company today was not achieved by linking together unrelated areas of work without any purpose. Our company is active in every field of electrical engineering. "In other words, it is very unique in the world, and we are proud of it, and it will allow our new discoveries in one field to be quickly extended to other fields." Since then, Siemens has devoted more energy to research. , and eventually became the world-famous German "Father of Electronics and Electrics". On October 1, 1852, 36-year-old Siemens married Mathilde Drummann. The following year, the eldest son Arnold was born. In 1855, second son William was born. Mathilde died of illness after giving birth to two children for Siemens. In 1869, Siemens and Miss Antony held a wedding. In 1870 their son Hertha was born. In 1872, Siemens' youngest son came to the world. When his sons grew up, they got married and had children. Siemens, who had a family full of children and grandchildren, enjoyed family happiness in his later years.
In 1890, Siemens handed over the leadership of the company to his brother Karl and sons Arnold and William, completing the company's power transition. Siemens died in Charlottenburg on December 6, 1892, at the age of 76.
Under the proper management and operation of Siemens' descendants, today's Siemens is still full of vigor and vitality and has become one of the most famous companies in the world. With more than 900,000 shareholders, Siemens is one of the largest listed companies in the world. More than 55% of the company's share capital is raised outside Germany. Since March 2001, Siemens shares have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
In addition, Siemens is the unit of conductance, susceptance, and admittance in the International System of Units for physical circuits. The symbol of Siemens is S, and its Chinese abbreviation is [西]. The full English spelling is Siemens. The name honors German electrical engineer Werner von Siemens.