Georg von Siemens (21 October 1839 – 23 October 1901) was a German

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becaus ...

and liberal

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. Georg von Siemens was on the board of directors of the

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

from 1870 to 1900. One of his top priorities was the financing of international railway projects, including the

Northern Pacific Northern Pacific may refer to: * Northern Pacific Airways, an upcoming airline * Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference, an NCAA Division I conference * Northern Pacific Hockey League, an American Tier III junior ice hockey league * Northern Pac ...

, and the

Baghdad Railway Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

. From 1874 until his death, he was voted several times to both the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n House of Representatives and the German Reichstag. Until 1880, he represented the National Liberal Party, then the

Secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

, from 1884 to 1893 the

German Free-minded Party The German Free-minded Party (german: Deutsche Freisinnige Partei, DFP) or German Radical Party was a short-lived liberal party in the German Empire, founded on 5 March 1884 as a result of the merger of the German Progress Party and the Liberal ...

, and for the last years the

Free-minded Union The Free-minded Union (german: Freisinnige Vereinigung; FVg) or Radical Union was a liberal party in the German Empire that existed from 1893 to 1910. Emergence Inside its predecessor, the German Free-minded Party, there had always been tension ...

Background

Georg von Siemens was born on 21 October 1839 to judicial officer Johann Siemens and Marie Siemens (née von Sperl) in

Torgau Torgau () is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen. Outside Germany, the town is best known as where on 25 April 1945, the United States and Soviet Armies forces first ...

. Siemens was a nephew of industrialists

Werner von Siemens Ernst Werner Siemens (von Siemens from 1888; ; ; 13 December 1816 – 6 December 1892) was a German electrical engineer, inventor and industrialist. Siemens's name has been adopted as the SI unit of electrical conductance, the siemens. He foun ...

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, and Carl von Siemens. His father provided most of the funds of the later Siemens AG. In 1857, Siemens began studying law in Heidelberg just before beginning his one-year military service in Berlin in 1858. After passing his state examination in 1860, Siemens worked as a clerk for the district courts in Jüterbog and Zossen. After transferring to Aachen in 1866, Siemens began advising the company of Werner Siemens, his cousin, Siemens, Halske & Co. before being drafted into the Rhenish Infantry Regiment for the German War. Siemens became the state examiner for Aachen later that year.

Establishment of the Indo-European Telegraph Company and Deutsche Bank

In 1867, Georg von Siemens established the Indo-European Telegraph Company in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on behalf of Werner Siemens. From 1868 to 1870, Siemens worked for the Indo-European Telegraph Company in Tehran, mediating between the British and Persian governments to secure Siemens, Halske & Co. the rights to income from the telegraph traffic. In 1870, Siemens returned to Berlin and participated in the founding of

. In April of that year, Siemens became the director of Deutsche Bank before being commissioned as a lieutenant of the 4th Brandenburg Infantry Regiment for the Franco-German War. From 1872 to 1874, Siemens led the establishment of Deutsche Bank in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

, and

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

. The branches in Argentina, Uruguay, Shanghai, and Yokohama were later liquidated due to financial trouble.

References

External links

* 1839 births 1901 deaths People from Torgau People from the Province of Saxony Georg German Protestants National Liberal Party (Germany) politicians German Free-minded Party politicians Free-minded Union politicians Members of the 2nd Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 6th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 7th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 8th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 10th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the Prussian House of Representatives German bankers Deutsche Bank people {{Germany-politician-stub