Friedrich Bauer, undated

Friedrich Bauer began working at Siemens-Schuckertwerke GmbH in 1924. He entered the "Industrial Department" as a project engineer, and was initially involved with the development of motor drives. In 1936 he became head of the Pulp Industry Department and in1941 also of the Chemistry Department and the General Development Department. Shortly afterwards, in 1942, he was appointed to the Managing Board and at the same took over as head of the "Central Departments", thus becoming responsible for power generation and distribution. Towards the end of the war, Siemens began to shift parts of the company management from Berlin to West Germany. Friedrich Bauer became director of Group West, which comprised the West German works and operating sectors and was located in Mülheim/Ruhr. In 1948 Bauer took over responsibility for all the planning and sales departments of the "Technical Bureaus". He was appointed Chairman of the Managing Board of Siemens-Schuckertwerke AG in 1951.

Alfred Berliner, undated

After studying engineering and physics, Alfred Berliner joined Siemens & Halske in 1888 at the instigation of the physicist Hermann v.Helmholtz. Here he was made responsible for starting business in the U.S. and in 1891 initially opened an exhibition office in order to supply the World Exhibition in Chicago. A short while afterwards he set up the Siemens & Halske Electric Company of America, which he ran until 1893. Berliner's most important achievement was the merger of the power engineering activities of Siemens & Halske AG with the "Elektrizitäts-Aktiengesellschaft vorm. Schuckert & Co., Nürnberg" to form Siemens-Schuckertwerke GmbH in the year 1903, where he was Chairman of the Managing Board until 1912. He had already become a full member of the Managing Board of Siemens & Halske AG prior to this in 1901. Alfred Berliner continued until 1937 in his function as a member of the Supervisory Board of Siemens & Halske AG.

Rudolf Bingel, undated

Rudolf Bingel joined Siemens-Schuckertwerke GmbH in 1907 after an apprenticeship as a machinist and engineering studies. He began his career in the company's Mannheim subsidiary, where he was appointed in 1919 to the Technical Managing Board. In 1924 Bingel was appointed as a deputy member of the Managing Board in the Berlin parent company. Here he eventually became a full member of the Managing Board (1927), Deputy Chairman (1937) and finally Chairman of the Managing Board (1939). Rudolf Bingel was highly innovative and successful in the areas of drives and marine equipment. He was particularly involved in promoting the development of diesel and turboelectric drives. As an important representative of the company, Bingel was taken prisoner in Siemensstadt by the Russian military and interned in a camp in Landsberg/Warthe where he died as a consequence of his imprisonment.

Heinrich von Buol, undated

Heinrich von Buol joined Siemens & Halske AG in Berlin in 1906 as a laboratory engineer after studying mechanical engineering and electrical engineering in Vienna. In 1915 he became head of the Department for Wireless Telegraphy and Measuring Equipment, in 1921 director of the Werner Works for Measuring Equipment and deputy member of the Managing Board, in 1927 a full member of the Managing Board and in 1932 Chairman of the Managing Board of Siemens & Halske. During Heinrich von Buol's period of office, which began with a reorganization of the operating sectors, the sales and workforce of Siemens AG increased considerably. At the end of April 1945 Buol, an outspoken opponent of the National Socialist government, was arrested during the occupation of Berlin by the Russian military and taken to Moscow. Here he took his own life.

Adolf Franke, 1926

Adolf Franke joined Siemens & Halske in 1896. On his initiative the telecommunications sector, which had for a time been neglected, once again caught up with developments in the U.S. His area of responsibility included the founding of Telefunken (1903) and the construction of the large radio station at Nauen (1906). Franke was a deputy member of the Managing Board of Siemens & Halske AG by 1903 and a full member by 1908. In 1921, after the death of Professor August Raps, he took over as Chairman. In 1932 Franke moved to the Supervisory Board, and thereafter concentrated in particular on coordinating basic research and steering the development work. Franke was involved not only with technical and organizational matters, but also with mass production and training. He participated in the founding of the "Gauss School," a college for precision mechanics, in Berlin.

Otto Henrich, undated

Otto Henrich, a collier's son from Essen, started at the Charlottenburg Works of Siemens & Halske in 1896 as a young engineer. His skills, in particular during the reorganization and creation of the finance departments of Siemens-Schuckertwerke AG in 1912/13, made a very good impression on Carl Friedrich von Siemens, who appointed him Chairman of the Managing Board in 1919. He had already become a deputy member of the Managing Board in 1905 and a full member in 1908. The founding of the community of interests Siemens-Rheinelbe-Schuckert-Union (1920), which brought together companies in the heavy and electrical industries, was largely initiated by Henrich. He left the company in 1921 after entering into a relationship with Tutty Bötzow, the former wife of von Carl Friedrich von Siemens.

Hans Kerschbaum, 1953

After working as an assistant in the Physics Institute of the University of Munich, Kerschbaum started at Siemens & Halske AG in 1929 as an assistant to the director of the Central Laboratory. In 1933 he became deputy manager of the newly founded Tube Works. In 1943, at only 41, he was appointed to the Managing Board and made manager of the radio works. After his return from Russian internment, Kerschbaum became a full member of the Managing Board and took over the management of the combined telecommunication works and the central development. In 1954 the Supervisory Board appointed him Deputy Chairman, and in 1956 Chairman of the Managing Board of Siemens & Halske AG. For the next ten years he was responsible for Siemens' entire light-current engineering sector. When the three parent companies were merged to form Siemens AG in 1966 he became a member of the new, three-man Presidency of the Managing Board, from which he retired in 1968.

Carl Köttgen, 1925

At the age only 34, Carl Köttgen was appointed in 1905 to the Managing Board of Siemens-Schuckertwerke GmbH. From 1921 to 1939 he was Chairman of the Managing Board. In 1903 he was responsible for an outstanding technical achievement with the construction of the first electric hoisting engine with Ilgner generating set, which was installed at the Zollern II mine near Dortmund, and in 1907 constructed the first double rolling train motor for the Georgsmarienhütte near Osnabrück. He was well known through his involvement in technical and scientific organizations: he was chairman of the VDE (1926-1927) and the VDI (1929-1931) and chaired the business conference in Berlin in 1930. He was particularly interested in the rationalization movement. With the experience he accumulated in the U.S. of methods of increasing production, Köttgen helped to initiate rationalization processes in Germany. After the departure of Carl Friedrich von Siemens, Carl Köttgen took over as chairman of the Reichskuratorium für Wirtschaftlichkeit (RKW) (government economy committee) in 1931.

Günther Scharowsky, undated

Günther Scharowsky began work at Siemens-Schuckertwerke after World War I in the development office of the industrial department. In 1938 he was appointed to the Managing Board and in 1949 became its Chairman. In 1951 Scharowsky was appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board. He is associated with the reconstruction of Siemens-Schuckertwerke AG after World War II. After the company management had set up Group Directorates for the Siemens works outside Berlin shortly before the end of the war, Scharowsky became Group Director for central Germany, Saxony and Bavaria and also assumed the overall direction of Siemens-Schuckertwerke AG. In this function he paved the way for the reconstruction of Siemens after 1945 in the university town of Erlangen, which had survived the war with little damage and became the provisional and in 1949 the official headquarters of Siemens.

Carl Friedrich von Siemens, 1924

Carl Friedrich von Siemens, the third and youngest son of company founder Werner von Siemens, took over leadership of the company after the end of World War I, when his two older brothers, Arnold and Wilhelm, had already passed away. As “head of the house,” he designed the strategy that would guide the firm through the difficult political and economic years under the Weimar Republic and the National Socialist regime. In his strategic decision making, his main focus was on maintaining and strengthening the unity of the enterprise. His corporate policies were aimed at preserving the company’s universal scope within the electrical industry. Siemens was the only company in the industry that was involved in both light-current and heavy-current technology, as telecommunications and power technology were then known. Carl Friedrich von Siemens’ farsightedness was a crucial factor in restoring Siemens, despite the losses suffered in the war, to its position as one of the world’s leading electrical companies by the mid-1920s. In addition to his work in the company, Carl Friedrich von Siemens was politically active as a deputy to the Reichstag, representing the German Democratic Party. He also demonstrated his civic commitment, holding numerous offices and honorary positions in business, academia and the community.

Ernst von Siemens, 1962

Ernst Albrecht von Siemens, son of Carl Friedrich and grandson of Siemens’ founder Werner von Siemens, was born in 1903 in Kingston, Great Britain. He studied physics at the Technical University in Munich, and joined Siemens in 1929, beginning his career at Berlin’s Werner Plant for Telecommunications. Ernst von Siemens began serving on the Managing Board of Siemens & Halske in 1943 when he was named a deputy member. He became a full member in 1948 and was appointed chairman in 1949. In 1945 he became a deputy member of the Managing Board of Siemens-Schuckertwerke, and a full member in 1948. From 1956 to 1966, he served as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of both companies, and from 1966 to 1971 as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Siemens AG. Even after stepping down as chairman, Ernst von Siemens remained a member of the Supervisory Board until 1978, serving as an honorary member. Ernst von Siemens played an integral part role in rebuilding the company after World War II, particularly in the area of international business, which laid the foundation for the company’s successful re-entry into the international marketplace. It was under his leadership that Siemens & Halske AG, Siemens-Schuckertwerke AG und Siemens-Reiniger-Werke AG were merged in 1966, forming the company we know today as Siemens AG. In addition to his managerial responsibilities, Ernst von Siemens was also an active supporter of science and the arts.

Wolf-Dietrich von Witzleben, ca. 1950

Wolf-Dietrich von Witzleben joined Siemens & Halske AG after World War I, and right from the beginning was primarily involved with personnel and social policy. Between 1927 and 1941 he managed Carl Friedrich von Siemens' office and was thus his closest colleague and confidant. In 1930 Witzleben additionally became head of the personnel department. This was followed in 1934 by his appointment as a deputy member of the Managing Board of both Siemens parent companies and in 1939 he became a full member. In May 1945 he was appointed Chairman of the Managing Board of both companies, and remained in this function until 1949. Witzleben maintained the unity of Siemens and was instrumental in the reconstruction of Siemens after the end of the war under difficult external conditions. In addition, he considerably advanced the training of managers. He was a co-founder of the Baden-Baden Business Talks and President of the German Institute for the Promotion of Young Executives in Industry.