Siemens AG
Company History
Siemens History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 1847 in Berlin, Germany
When was Siemens founded?
Siemens was founded in 1847 in Berlin, Germany by Werner von Siemens and Johann Georg Halske, making it 179 years old.
- Founded
- 1847
- Founding place
- Berlin, Germany
- Founders
- Werner von Siemens and Johann Georg Halske
- Headquarters today
- Munich and Berlin, Germany
- Milestones documented
- 12 (1847–2026)
- Current CEO
- Roland Busch
- Acquisitions
- 7
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1847 | Siemens & Halske is founded |
| 1897 | Siemensstadt Founded |
| 1966 | Siemens AG takes modern form |
| 2007 | UGS acquisition deepens software |
| 2008 | Bribery Settlement |
| 2017 | Mentor Graphics Acquired |
| 2018 | Siemens Healthineers lists |
| 2020 | Siemens Energy is spun off |
| 2021 | Roland Busch becomes CEO |
| 2025 | FY2025 revenue reaches ~$89.2B (EUR78.914B) |
| 2025 | Altair Engineering Acquired |
| 2026 | Q2 FY2026 results show stable revenue |
- Where was Siemens founded?
- Siemens was founded in Berlin, Germany in 1847. wikidata.org
- Who founded Siemens?
- Siemens was founded by Werner von Siemens and Johann Georg Halske.
- When did Siemens start?
- Siemens was founded in 1847.
- How old is Siemens?
- Siemens is 179 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
In October 1847 Werner von Siemens, a Prussian artillery officer, and precision mechanic Johann Georg Halske founded Telegraphen-Bauanstalt von Siemens & Halske in a Berlin backyard workshop to build an improved pointer telegraph. The firm soon built long telegraph lines in Prussia and later the Indo-European line, and Werner von Siemens' 1866 description of the dynamo-electric principle helped open the age of large-scale electricity.
Founders
Werner von Siemens
Werner von Siemens (1816-1892) was a German electrical engineer. In 1847, he significantly improved the telegraph design by replacing the Morse key with a reliable pointer system. Alongside Johann Georg Halske, he founded the Telegraphen-Bauanstalt von Siemens & Halske to manufacture these devices, laying the foundation for one of the world's largest industrial conglomerates. Born Ernst Werner Siemens on December 13, 1816, he took the name von Siemens in 1888 and died on December 6, 1892. The SI unit of electrical conductance, the siemens, is named after him. He is also credited with the electric tram, trolley bus, electric locomotive and electric elevator, and with a dynamo that helped make large-scale electricity possible. Werner von Siemens was born in 1816.
Johann Georg Halske
Johann Georg Halske (1814-1890) partnered with Werner von Siemens in 1847 to build and scale the manufacturing of Siemens' pointer telegraph design. He managed the company's early mechanical workshops and production facilities before departing in 1867. Johann Georg Halske was born in 1814.
Key Milestones
Siemens & Halske is founded
Werner von Siemens and Johann Georg Halske found the company as an electrical telegraph and engineering business.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgSiemensstadt Founded
Siemens & Halske acquires land west of Berlin to build a vast new industrial site, later known as Siemensstadt, that grows into an UNESCO World Heritage-listed company town.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgSiemens AG takes modern form
Several Siemens predecessor companies combine into the modern Siemens AG structure.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgUGS acquisition deepens software
Siemens acquires UGS, building the PLM base that later becomes central to its industrial software strategy.
Source: assets.new.siemens.comBribery Settlement
Siemens agreed in December 2008 to pay about $1.6 billion to US and German authorities to settle bribery investigations.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgMentor Graphics Acquired
Siemens completed its purchase of the chip-design software company Mentor Graphics in 2017 for about $4.5 billion.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgSiemens Healthineers lists
Siemens lists Siemens Healthineers while retaining a major ownership stake.
Source: assets.new.siemens.comSiemens Energy is spun off
Siemens separates Siemens Energy, narrowing the parent company around industrial technology.
Source: assets.new.siemens.comRoland Busch becomes CEO
Roland Busch succeeds Joe Kaeser and accelerates the digital-industries and infrastructure strategy.
Source: assets.new.siemens.comFY2025 revenue reaches ~$89.2B (EUR78.914B)
Siemens reports ~$89.2B (EUR78.914B) revenue and ~$11.7B (EUR10.387B) net income for FY2025.
Source: assets.new.siemens.comAltair Engineering Acquired
Siemens completes its roughly $10 billion acquisition of Altair Engineering, adding simulation, high-performance computing, and AI-driven design software to its Xcelerator industrial software stack.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgQ2 FY2026 results show stable revenue
Siemens reports roughly stable Q2 FY2026 revenue while maintaining its fiscal-year operating focus.
Source: press.siemens.comMajor Acquisitions
UGS Corporation
2007Siemens acquired US software firm UGS Corporation for $3.5 billion to build an industrial software and PLM (product lifecycle management) platform, its first major move into design and simulation software rather than physical industrial equipment.
Mentor Graphics
2017Siemens paid $4.5 billion for Mentor Graphics to add electronic design automation (EDA) software, extending its digital-twin capability from mechanical and factory design into semiconductor and electronics design.
Varian Medical Systems
2021Siemens Healthineers, Siemens' majority-owned, separately listed healthcare unit, acquired oncology-equipment maker Varian Medical Systems for $16.4 billion to scale up in cancer-treatment technology.
Brightly Software
2022Siemens acquired Brightly Software for about $1.575 billion to add asset- and maintenance-management software for buildings and public infrastructure.
Altair Engineering
2025Siemens paid about $10 billion for Altair Engineering to add simulation, high-performance computing (HPC), and data-analytics software to its industrial-software stack.
Dotmatics
2025Siemens agreed to buy scientific R&D software provider Dotmatics for about $5.1B to extend its industrial software into life sciences.
Flender
2005Siemens AG acquired Flender in 2005.
Keep researching Siemens
Siemens Company History FAQ
When and where was Siemens originally founded?
Siemens was founded on October 12, 1847, in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, by artillery officer and inventor Werner von Siemens and precision instrument maker Johann Georg Halske as Telegraphen-Bauanstalt von Siemens & Halske.
What was Werner von Siemens's first major invention?
Werner von Siemens invented the pointer telegraph in 1846-1847. Unlike the Morse telegraph which required trained operators to decipher dots and dashes, Siemens's pointer telegraph used a dial with the alphabet that automatically pointed to letters, dramatically speeding communication.
What was the historic Indo-European Telegraph Line built in 1870?
In 1870, Siemens completed the monumental 11,000-kilometer Indo-European telegraph line connecting London to Calcutta across Prussia, Russia, and Persia. The line reduced message transit time between Britain and India from several weeks to under one hour.
How did Werner von Siemens revolutionize power generation with the dynamo in 1866?
In 1866, Werner von Siemens discovered the dynamo-electric principle and built the first self-excited electrical generator, converting mechanical motion directly into electricity and launching the modern electric power age.
When did Siemens demonstrate the world's first electric railway?
At the Berlin Industrial Exhibition in 1879, Werner von Siemens presented the world's first functional electric railway, carrying visitors on miniature passenger cars powered by an electrified center track, leading to the world's first electric streetcar in Lichterfelde in 1881.
Why did Siemens relocate its headquarters from Berlin to Munich after World War II?
Following World War II and the Soviet occupation and division of Berlin, Siemens relocated its corporate headquarters and primary manufacturing facilities to West Germany, establishing dual corporate headquarters in Munich and Erlangen in 1949.
What was the 2006 compliance crisis and how did it reform Siemens?
In late 2006, international prosecutors uncovered an extensive €1.3 billion foreign bribery system used to win telecommunications and energy contracts. Siemens paid record international fines, replaced its executive leadership with outsider Peter Löscher, and instituted the gold standard of global corporate compliance programs.
What was the "Vision 2020+" corporate reorganization under Joe Kaeser?
Under CEO Joe Kaeser (2013-2021), Siemens dismantled its unwieldy industrial conglomerate structure ("Fleet of Ships"), spinning off healthcare division Siemens Healthineers in an IPO in 2018 and gas-and-power division Siemens Energy in 2020, while retaining majority and anchor shareholdings.
What is Siemens Xcelerator and when was it launched?
Launched in June 2022 under CEO Roland Busch, Siemens Xcelerator is an open digital business platform comprising curated IoT software, cloud-connected hardware, developer APIs, and a marketplace designed to accelerate digital transformation and industrial AI across factories and buildings.
What was the landmark acquisition of Altair Engineering in late 2024?
In October 2024, Siemens agreed to acquire US engineering simulation and industrial AI software leader Altair Engineering for $10.6 billion, creating the world's most comprehensive design, simulation, and digital-twin industrial software portfolio.
How did Siemens contribute to the Transrapid maglev train in Shanghai?
Siemens partnered with ThyssenKrupp in the Transrapid consortium to build the Shanghai Maglev Train, opened in 2004 as the world's first commercial high-speed magnetic levitation railway, reaching operational speeds of 431 km/h.
Where are Siemens AG's corporate headquarters located today?
Siemens AG maintains its corporate headquarters at Werner-von-Siemens-Straße in Munich, Bavaria, with historic administrative headquarters also maintained in Berlin, Germany.
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