Siemens History

At the end of the 19th century, Siemens & Halske chose a patch of wilderness for its new production site. It also built up research installations, residential settlements and social and cultural facilities, thus creating a new urban district: Siemensstadt.

On December 13, 1929, Siemens and the Deutsche Reichsbahn presented the new Berlin Siemensbahn to the public; official operation began five days later. The trip on the 4.7-kilometer route from the Jungfernheide light rail station to Gartenfeld via the Wernerwerk and Siemensstadt stations took less than ten minutes, and during rush hours the trains ran every five minutes. The popular and trade press sang the praises of the new route that closed the gap between the Ringbahn and Siemensstadt, a part of Spandau, yet for four decades now the line has led a sad existence, and counts as one of the capital’s most famous “abandoned places.” Still, the “new Siemensstadt” project is expected to change all that in the near future.        

On October 23, 1879, under the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary, Siemens & Halske opened its first Technical Bureau on Magdalenenstrasse 12 in Vienna. It was initially headed by Arnold von Siemens, the eldest son of the company founder. Unlike earlier efforts to establish a foothold in the Habsburg Empire, this time the electrical engineering company’s efforts were successful. Now, 140 years later, Siemens Austria is one of the country’s leading technology companies employing around 10,700 people.