News
July 7, 1888 – Medical care right from the start: Werner von Siemens appoints a company doctor
Ambulance service at Siemens’ Berlin facility, 1938
On July 7, 1888, the company appointed the first medical examiner in the person of privy councilor Dr. Körte. It was Werner von Siemens’ aim to “…establish a permanent arrangement with a reliably proficient doctor.” In 1906, a comprehensive standby medical service for the works was set up in Berlin by concluding arrangements with physicians in private practice, the first of whom was Dr. Wilhelm Böttcher. In 1935, with the creation of permanent company medical services in Siemenstadt, medical care was considerably expanded and improved. By 1941, the number of such establishments had increased to 14, with a total of 16 full-time and 4 part-time doctors.
During the second half of the Second World War in particular the workload of the medical services increased considerably. Not only did medical care have to be provided under difficult conditions for the considerably enlarged workforce of Siemensstadt, but the company doctors also had to be on standby during the constant bombing raids. For the “foreign workers” employed in Siemensstadt at this time there was a special “Foreigners’ Hospital.”
From the 1950s on, company doctors were required to attend in-service training. The Siemens doctors were also members of the Berlin Company Doctors’ Association. In this period the early diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis still played an important part in their work. Other topics now coming to the fore were occupational medicine, preventative healthcare and proper nutrition. In the wake of the Asian flu, which had claimed around 30,000 victims in Germany, a vaccination program for Siemens employees was implemented in 1965. The second pandemic in this period, Hong Kong flu, was taken even more seriously and voluntary flu vaccinations were offered on a large scale (1970-1975).
Work safety and health protection are still central elements of Siemens corporate culture and an expression of the company’s responsibility for its employees. The doctors working in the company’s Medical Services provide competent occupational healthcare. Today this comprises a wide range of services based on legal, professional association and internal company regulations.
The activities of the company’s medical services in the past are comprehensively documented in the Siemens Archives. Not only the annual reports with important statistical information but even the records kept by former company doctors have been preserved.
July 2011 – Dr. Frank Wittendorfer