Werner von Siemens
1816-1892
Zusammenfassung
<span>Werner von Siemens counts as one of the pioneers of modernity and was one of the most important entrepreneurs in German history. He contributed to transforming people's everyday lives with fundamental innovations in the field of communications and energy technology. With his brothers, he laid the foundation for a global company, from which the modern-day Siemens Corporation derives. Johannes Bähr paints a fascinating picture of this extraordinary man, the son of a tenant farmer, who rose to become one of the most influential figures of the 19th century. At the same time, a panorama emerges of an epoch in which the world changed more rapidly than ever before.<br/></span><p style="text-align: justify;"><span>Werner von Siemens' success was not only economic; he was also one of the first industrialists to recognize the connection between scientific research and economic development. His innovations, above all the pointer telegraph and the dynamo machine, opened up new applications for electricity: in conveying messages, generating energy, the illumination of buildings, and the propulsion of machines. Yet the pioneer of the electronics industry was also a man with many sides: an entrepreneur and inventor, officer of the Prussian military, brother and responsible paterfamilias, as well as a political representative and promoter of science. With Werner von Siemens' biography, Johannes Bähr provides insights into a century in which the world was fundamentally transformed. Wars, revolutions, kings, and tsars influenced the career of this inventor-entrepreneur, who, among other things, was responsible for the laying of telegraph cables to North America and the Middle East and for building the first electric streetcar in the world.</span>
- 1–7 Titelei/Inhaltsverzeichnis 1–7
- 8–13 Introduction 8–13
- 14–37 Chapter 1 Origins, childhood, and youth 14–37
- A family with a bourgeois heritage
- Idyllic childhood and troubled youth
- School years
- 38–61 Chapter 2 Setting the course early on 38–61
- The young lieutenant
- The tragedy of Menzendorf
- Separate paths for the orphans
- 62–89 Chapter 3 “The damned money” 62–89
- Initial experiments
- “Invention speculation”
- Legal guardian for three brothers
- 90–113 Chapter 4 “Halske’s Workshop” 90–113
- To bet it all
- The first Siemens pointer telegraph
- The founding of the company
- 114–149 Chapter 5 Telegraph lines for Prussia 114–149
- In times of revolution and war
- The first long-distance lines
- Unsuccessful abroad
- The “Nottebohm crisis”
- 150–185 Chapter 6 “Family genius” 150–185
- The band of brothers
- Achieving love through reason
- Marriage and a move
- Russia or France?
- Crimean War boom
- 186–215 Chapter 7 In the shadows 186–215
- Mathilde’s illness
- In search of new fields of business
- Difficult beginnings in London
- Mathilde’s death
- 216–255 Chapter 8 “Headed for a great time” 216–255
- “For a unified and powerful Germany”
- A new love
- The dynamo machine
- To fade away or globalize
- 256–297 Chapter 9 Megaprojects 256–297
- The Indo-European Telegraph Line
- Private business and family matters
- Transatlantic cables
- Siemens Brothers & Co. Ltd.
- 298–349 Chapter 10 At the zenith 298–349
- The businessman and his principles
- Lobbyist for patent protection
- Family life with Antonie
- New times: Telephones and electric lighting
- The first electric railways
- 350–389 Chapter 11 “To sustain the position achieved” 350–389
- Challenged by the Edison system
- Berlin versus London
- The transition to a major enterprise
- 390–425 Chapter 12 The legacy 390–425
- The next generation
- A promoter of research
- Ennobled against his will
- The final years
- 426–437 Focused and determined in a time of change – a summary 426–437
- 438–575 Appendices 438–575
- Notes
- Primary sources and bibliography
- Image credits
- Index of names
- Index of places
