Georg von Siemens

In 1867, Georg von Siemens established the Indo-European Telegraph Company in London on behalf of Werner Siemens. From 1868 to 1870, Siemens worked in Teheran, mediating between the British and Persian governments to secure Siemens, Halske & Co. the rights to income from the telegraph traffic.

In April 1870, Siemens returned to Berlin and was appointed founding director of Deutsche Bank. He then served as lieutenant of the 4th Brandenburg Infantry Regiment for the Franco-German War.

Under the leadership of Siemens and Hermann Wallich, Deutsche Bank became rapidly one of Germany's largest banks. In the early years, the bank focused on establishing foreign branches in London, Paris, New York City, Argentina, Uruguay, Shanghai, and Yokohama to finance international trade. Several were later liquidated due to financial difficulties.^[1] On the domestic market, however, Deutsche Bank took over a couple of competitors in the mid-1870s after the financial frenzy of the Gründerzeit had turned to bust, and was from then on considered one of the "big four" commercial banks of the German Empire (together with Disconto-Gesellschaft, Darmstädter Bank, and Dresdner Bank).^[2]

From the 1880s, Deutsche Bank shifted increasingly to financing the establishment of industrial conglomerates, and therefore played a key role in German industrialization. Moreover, as one of the first German banks, the bank strove to attract deposits, which broadened its financial means beyond the capital base.

Siemens died in 1901 of cancer. He was survived by his wife Elise Siemens (née Görz) and five daughters.

• Newspaper clippings about Georg von Siemens in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

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