October 21, 2014
<Back to Index>
This page is sponsored by:
PAGE SPONSOR
 

Georg von Siemens (* October 21 1839 in Torgau , † October 23 1901 in Berlin) was a German banker and politician.

Georg von Siemens was a grand nephew of inventor and industrialist Werner Wilhelm Carl (von) Siemens. His father, the Berlin Judge Johann Georg Siemens co-founded in 1847 the company Siemens & Halske, from which the Siemens AG has developed.

Georg von Siemens studied law in Heidelberg and worked first as an assessor at the District Court of Aachen. From 1867 he held various jobs for the Siemens & Halske, including in Iran.

In 1870, Siemens became one of the founding directors of Deutsche Bank, as its first CEO, he served until 1900. During this time, the German bank has grown into one of the most important banks in Germany. On Siemens' initiative, the German bank was involved in the financing of major companies such as Siemens & Halske, the AEG Emil Rathenau, Mannesmann and BASF . Another focus of his work was the funding of railway construction, including in the Ottoman Empire (Baghdad Railway) and in the United States of America (Northern Pacific Railway).

Since 1874, Siemens was repeatedly a member of the Prussian House of Deputies and the Reichstag, first as a National Liberal and later - after the division of the National Liberal Party - as a member of the 1884 Eugen Richter and Franz von Stauffenberg German Liberal Party. Siemens in 1901 was nominated to succeed Johannes von Miquel in the post of Finance Minister of Prussia but the deterioration of his health as a result of cancer thwarted the nomination.

Georg von Siemens was knighted in 1899. He was married to Elise Gorizia and had six daughters. His second daughter Mary married the archeologist and museum director Theodor Wiegand, his fifth daughter Annette, the economist, banker and politician Karl Helfferich. Helfferich is the author of a three - volume biography of Georg von Siemens.

The tomb of Georg von Siemens is in the crypt in the castle park of Ahlsdorf in Elbe - Elster in Brandenburg.