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Siemens AG

Industrial Technology and AutomationFounded 1847
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Company data updated: October 2026

Founders

Who Founded Siemens?

Werner von Siemens, Johann Georg Halske · Founded 1847 · HQ today: Munich and Berlin, Germany

Who founded Siemens?

Siemens was founded by Werner von Siemens, Johann Georg Halske in 1847 in Berlin, Germany. It is now led by Roland Busch.

Founders
Werner von Siemens, Johann Georg Halske
Founded
1847
Headquarters
Munich and Berlin, Germany
Number of founders
2
Current CEO
Roland Busch (since 2021)
Where was Siemens founded?
Siemens was founded in Berlin, Germany in 1847. wikidata.org
When was Siemens founded?
Siemens was founded in 1847.
Who started Siemens?
Siemens was founded by Werner von Siemens and Johann Georg Halske.
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.

What each Siemens founder did

FounderRole at foundingContributionSource
Werner von SiemensCo-founder—en.wikipedia.org
Johann Georg HalskeCo-founder——

Werner von Siemens

Co-founder 1847

Background

German electrical engineer and inventor of the pointer telegraph.

Role at Siemens AG

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

Co-founder 1847

Background

Highly skilled German master mechanic.

Role at Siemens AG

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.

Siemens AG: CEO & Leadership History

Full timeline →

Roland Busch

President and CEO

2021 – Present

Under Busch, Siemens grew FY2025 revenue to ~$89.2 billion (EUR78.914 billion) (up from ~$84.6 billion (EUR74.882 billion) in FY2023) while continuing to shift the company's profit mix toward higher-margin industrial software. Under his leadership Siemens has also expanded partnerships in industrial AI, positioning the Xcelerator software platform as a foundation for AI-driven factory and infrastructure design. He has also overseen Siemens' continued exposure to China, a market that remains simultaneously one of the company's largest revenue sources and a source of geopolitical risk given rising trade tensions between China and Western economies during his tenure. He has framed Siemens long-term strategy around being a technology partner for both the energy transition and industrial digitalization simultaneously, rather than choosing between the two priorities.

Joe Kaeser

President and CEO

2013 – 2021

Kaeser's portfolio simplification set up Siemens' current focus on digital industrial technology, and he handed the CEO role to Roland Busch in 2021 with the energy and healthcare spin-offs already largely complete. He later became chairman of the supervisory board of Daimler Truck after leaving Siemens' CEO role. Kaeser was also known for his willingness to publicly engage on political and social issues during his CEO tenure, a departure from the traditionally more reserved public posture of German industrial executives.

Peter Loescher

President and CEO

2007 – 2013

He led Siemens through the 2008-2009 financial crisis and into a programme of cost reductions. The supervisory board replaced him in 2013 after repeated profit-guidance cuts, and Joe Kaeser took over.

Peter Löscher

Chief Executive Officer

2007 – 2013

Peter Löscher served as chief executive of Siemens AG from 2007 to 2013.

Klaus Kleinfeld

President and CEO

2005 – 2007

Kleinfeld resigned in 2007 as the company faced a bribery investigation, and Peter Loescher succeeded him.

Heinrich von Pierer

Chief Executive Officer

2005 – 2007

Heinrich von Pierer served as chief executive of Siemens AG from 2005 to 2007.

Karlheinz Kaske

Chief Executive Officer

1981 – 1992

Karlheinz Kaske served as chief executive of Siemens AG from 1981 to 1992.

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Keep researching Siemens

Who Founded Siemens? FAQ

Who were the founders of Siemens?

Siemens was founded on October 12, 1847, in Berlin by Werner von Siemens (an inventor and Prussian artillery officer) and Johann Georg Halske (a master precision mechanical craftsman).

Who was Werner von Siemens and what was his upbringing?

Werner von Siemens (1816-1892) was born into a tenant farming family in Lenthe near Hanover, Kingdom of Prussia. Unable to afford university tuition, he joined the Prussian Army Artillery and Engineering School in Berlin, where he studied physics, mathematics, and chemistry.

Who was Johann Georg Halske and what was his role in the partnership?

Johann Georg Halske (1814-1890) was a gifted Berlin precision engineer and workshop master. While Werner von Siemens was the conceptual inventor and scientific genius, Halske possessed the extraordinary mechanical craftsmanship required to translate Siemens's theoretical designs into reliable, manufactured telegraph instruments.

How did Werner von Siemens invent the pointer telegraph while in the military?

While serving as an officer in the Prussian army artillery workshop, Siemens evaluated Charles Wheatstone's early telegraph. Recognizing its mechanical flaws, he redesigned it with an automatic circuit-breaking mechanism, creating the foolproof pointer telegraph in 1846.

Who financed the launch of Telegraphen-Bauanstalt von Siemens & Halske in 1847?

The startup workshop was funded with a 6,842-taler investment from Werner's wealthy cousin, Johann Georg Siemens, who received a 20% share in profits, allowing Werner and Halske to lease a small workshop and hire ten craftsmen.

Why did Johann Georg Halske leave the company in 1867?

Halske was an artisanal craftsman who favored controlled, high-precision workshop production. As Werner von Siemens and his brothers expanded aggressively into high-risk international submarine telegraph cables, Halske withdrew from active management in 1867, though he remained a lifelong friend.

What roles did Werner's brothers Carl and William play in international expansion?

Werner's brother Carl von Siemens established and ran Siemens's massive Russian business, laying thousands of miles of telegraphs across the Tsarist empire. Brother William (Carl Wilhelm) Siemens led the British subsidiary, inventing the Siemens-Martin regenerative open-hearth steel furnace and managing transatlantic cables.

What was Werner von Siemens's discovery of the dynamo principle in 1866?

Werner discovered that a generator's rotating armature could use its own electromagnetic field to amplify its electrical current without requiring weak permanent steel magnets, establishing the fundamental science of modern electric dynamos and power grids.

What progressive employee welfare benefits did Werner von Siemens introduce?

Decades before social legislation existed, Werner instituted revolutionary employee welfare programs: establishing an employee pension and widow fund in 1872, introducing an annual profit-sharing bonus ("Inventarium"), and reducing workday hours to promote worker dignity.

What honors and titles did Werner von Siemens receive?

In 1888, German Emperor Frederick III elevated Werner to the hereditary Prussian nobility, adding the "von" to his surname. The SI unit of electrical conductance, the siemens (S), was officially named in his honor in 1971.

When did Werner von Siemens retire and pass away?

Werner von Siemens retired from active corporate leadership in 1890, passing management to his brother Carl and sons Arnold and Wilhelm. He died peacefully at his villa in Berlin-Charlottenburg on December 6, 1892, at the age of 75.

How is the legacy of the founders honored today?

The Werner von Siemens Ring is the highest honor in German engineering, and the company's global headquarters, university chairs, and museums proudly preserve the memory of Werner and Halske's founding workshop.

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Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.