| Industry | Electrical engineering |
|---|---|
| Fate | Merged in Siemens AG |
| Founded | 1847 |
| Defunct | 1966 |
| Headquarters | Berlin, Germany |
| Key people | Ernst Werner von Siemens, Johann Georg Halske, founders |
Siemens & Halske AG (or Siemens-Halske) was a German electrical engineering company that later became part of Siemens AG.
It was founded on 12 October 1847 as Telegraphen-Bauanstalt von Siemens & Halske by Ernst Werner von Siemens and Johann Georg Halske. The company, located in Berlin-Kreuzberg, specialised in manufacturing electrical telegraphs according to Charles Wheatstone's patent of 1837. In 1848 the company constructed one of the first European telegraph lines from Berlin to Frankfurt am Main. Siemens & Halske quickly expanded with representatives in Great Britain (Carl Wilhelm Siemens) and Russia (Carl Heinrich von Siemens) a well as own cable-manufacturing plants at Woolwich and Saint Petersburg. The company's rise was supported by Werner von Siemens' patent of the electrical generator (dynamo) in 1867.
In 1881 Siemens & Halske built the Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway, the world's first electric streetcar line, in the southwestern Lichterfelde suburb of Berlin, followed by the Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram near Vienna, the first electrical interurban tram in Austria–Hungary. 1882 saw the opening of the experimental "Elektromote" track, an early trolleybus concept in the Berlin suburb of Halensee. In the same time Siemens & Halske further increased, erecting new premises in nearby Charlottenburg.
In 1887 Emil Rathenau had established Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG), which became a long-time rival. Werner von Siemens retired in 1890, Johann Georg Halske had already left the company in 1867. Werner von Siemens' brother Carl Heinrich together with Werner's sons Arnold and Georg Wilhelm in 1897 founded the Siemens & Halske AG located in Charlottenburg. From 1899 on it had a vast new site erected on the banks of the western Spree river, later known as Siemensstadt.
When Siemens & Halske merged parts of its activities with Schuckert & Co., Nuremberg in 1903 to become Siemens-Schuckert, Siemens & Halske AG specialized in communications engineering. During World War I, rotary engines of advanced and unusual design were produced under the Siemens-Halske brand, like the Siemens-Halske Sh.I and Sh.III. Later Siemens established several company subsidiaries for which the Siemens & Halske AG functioned as a holding company.
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