On October 1, 1847, Werner von Siemens founded the company based on his invention of telegraphic technology that used pointers to point out the order of letters rather than Morse code. The company then became known as Telegraphen-Bauanstalt von Siemens & Halske. In 1848, the company built Europe's first long-distance telegraph line, spanning 500 kilometers from Berlin to Frankfurt. In 1850, the founder's brother, Carl Wilhelm Siemens, opened a representative office in London. In the 1850s, the company was involved in the construction of a long-distance telegraph network in Russia. In 1855, Carl Heinrich von Siemens, another brother of the founder, established a new branch in St. Petersburg. The company continued to grow and became involved in electrical trains and light bulbs. 1890 saw the retirement of the founder, who left the company to his brother Carl Heinrich and two sons, Arnold von Siemens and Georg Wilhelm von Siemens. 1897 saw the joint venture between Siemens and Halske ( In 1897, Siemens and Halske jointly founded the company S&H. In 1919, S&H and two other companies **** together founded the Osram Lightbulb Company (Osram Lightbulb Company). In 1923, a Japanese branch was established.
World War II
Between the 1920s and 1930s, S&H began producing radios, televisions and electron microscopes. Prior to World War II, S&H was caught up in Germany's secret war effort. Between 1937 and 1938 (when the Japanese army carried out the Nanking Massacre on the city of Nanking), Rabe, an employee of the German company Siemens in China, used his privileged status as a foreigner to establish the Nanking Wartime Safety Zone in Nanking, China, to protect some 250,000 Chinese civilians.
Post-war
In the 1950s, S&H began producing computers, semiconductor equipment, washing machines and pacemakers. In 1966, Siemens AG was founded. In 1967, Siemens AG and Robert Bosch GmbH set up a joint venture for the production of mainly white goods, Bosch Home Appliances (BSH), which later became the market leader for home appliances in Germany and Western Europe. In 1980, the company's first digital telephone exchange rolled off the production line. In 1988, Siemens and General Electric acquired the British defense and technology company Plessey. because the holders of Plessey split, Siemens took over its avionics, radar, and traffic-control parts and renamed it Siemens Plessey.
After the 1990s
In 1990, Siemens purchased the troubled Nixdorf Computer Corporation and renamed it Siemens Nixdorf Informations System AG. The company was already profitable under the leadership of Gerhar Schumeyer, and in 1997 Siemens launched its first GSM portable phone with a color screen. Also in 1997, Siemens entered into agreements with British Aerospace and DASA to supply them with defense equipment manufactured by Siemens Plessey. British Aerospace and DASA are responsible for the procurement of military equipment in the UK and Germany respectively. In 1999, Siemens' semiconductor business was spun off to form a new company, Infineon Technologies. In the same year, the Siemens Lidovic Information Systems Unit became part of Fujitsu-Siemens Computers. In 2004, Siemens Mobile launched the 65 series of cell phones to the market. The good user interface, user-friendly operation, and practical function design made the 65 series of cell phones widely popular, but due to software problems, Siemens Mobile had to call back, and laid the groundwork for the acquisition a year later. In 2005, Taiwan's BenQ acquired Siemens' financially troubled cell phone company and received exclusive rights to use the Siemens trademark for five years under the full name BenQ-Siemens. 250 million euros were invested by Siemens and 100 million euros worth of assets were written off before transferring the cell phone company to BenQ.(1) Siemens also received 5 percent of BenQ's shares in the cell phone company. Siemens likewise acquired 5% of BenQ's shares amounting to approximately EUR 50 million. On October 30, 2006, Siemens announced the establishment of the Siemens China Institute in Beijing. Siemens is currently involved in a bribery case with a huge amount of money, well over €426 million[2] leading to the resignation of the current CEO, Klaus Kleinfeld.