From a workshop in a back courtyard in Berlin to a global corporation: Few technology companies can look back on such a long, successful history as Siemens can. For more than 175 years, we have been at the forefront of creating technologies that transform the everyday, for everyone.
This global pioneer in electrical engineering began as a simple startup. Today, more than 175 years later, the 10-man business that once operated at Schöneberger Strasse 19 in Berlin is a global giant that has served as a major innovation and technology force over the years.
Company founding and initial expansion
From the very outset, Siemens’ success has been based on its pioneering spirit, ingenuity and global engagement.
High-voltage engineering and major international projects
The invention of the dynamo machine and the completion of large-scale, technologically demanding projects earned Siemens & Halske international acclaim.
Growth through consolidations and partnerships
The joint stock company expanded and established Siemensstadt – a new, rapidly growing industrial campus at the gates of Berlin.
Streamlining the company and returning to the world market
In the aftermath of World War I, the company had to readjust to the peacetime economy and reestablish itself on the global market.
National Socialism and the war economy
In Nazi Germany, rearmament and the wartime economy dominated Siemens’ business activities, too. The company’s activities during this period also included the use of forced labor.
Rebuilding and rise to a global corporation
World War II lost Siemens four-fifths of its assets, in Germany and internationally. Yet by the mid-1950s, the company was able to rebuild and return to the international market.
New markets and business lines
Siemens refocused its corporate structure in 1969, to take due account of its markets' increasing globalization and the challenges of technological progress.
New paths in a time of crisis
The company was confronted with challenges unlike any before including the first comprehensive reform of the corporate organization, the launch of the Ten-Point Program, and the compliance crisis.
Defining digitalization
Siemens turned its sights systematically to growth fields – a new corporate orientation and structure, carefully selected acquisitions and new innovation methods were to make the company fit for the future.
Want to learn more? Come with us on a thrilling trip through time.
Since 1847, Siemens has continually driven transformation, turning bold ideas into technologies that shape the world we live in. Think of the pointer telegraph, which advanced communication and brought people closer together. Or consider SIMATIC, our game-changing industrial control solution that initiated a new chapter in automation. This enduring drive to innovate and improve the world is at the heart of everything we do, then and now.
The determination to shape the future has been a key trait of Siemens managers and researchers. Get to know the people behind the story. Many personalities have helped shape Siemens’ history and development in various ways and make up our heritage today.
Here you can find out more about inventor and founder Werner von Siemens and the company’s other founding fathers.
From more efficient factories, smarter buildings, grids, transportations and healthcare, the company creates technology with purpose adding real value for customers.
Siemens is a leading technology company that transforms the everyday of billions of people.
Our technology shapes the world we want to live in. Together, we transform industries, transform societies, transform the everyday.