Founder Profile
Werner von Siemens
Last reviewed: October 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Who is Werner von Siemens?
Werner von Siemens is a founder of Siemens AG, which was founded in 1847 with Johann Georg Halske.
- Company founded
- Siemens AG
- Founded
- 1847
- Co-founders
- Johann Georg Halske
Background
German electrical engineer and inventor of the pointer telegraph.
Founding Story
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.