Siemens first achieved success in telegraphy. His firm, Siemens & Halske, built Germany's first important telegraph line and went on to build elsewhere in Europe and Asia. Siemens then turned his hand to electric technology. He was instrumental in creating the conditions for the advancement of electrical technology from the experimental stage into the modern electrical industry.
Siemens combined his engineering brilliance with entrepreneurial skills to develop a business whose activities at an early stage nearly spanned the globe. Siemens held a multinational vision almost from the start. The Siemens firms were unique in that, rather than starting small then slowly growing and branching out, they were from their inception international organizations.
The story of Siemens is a vital part of the history of industrialization in Europe.
