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By
Wikipedia,
Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG) (literally General Electricity Company) was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in 1883 by Emil Rathenau. AEG was the first to introduce a complete brand - logo, design and corporate identity - which was created by the architect/designer Peter Behrens. In 1967 AEG joined with Telefunken creating AEG-Telefunken. In 1985 AEG was bought by Daimler-Benz, later being wholly integrated into DaimlerChrysler forming part of AdTranz. By 1997 the company no longer existed. In 2005 Electrolux bought the brand name and now trades using the brand AEG-Electrolux. As of 2009 the AEG name is also licensed to various companies.
HistorySummary
AEG was created in 1887 from the Deutsche Edison Gesellschaft (DEG), initially the company produced electrical equipment - light bulbs, motors and generators etc., it soon became involved in AC electrical tranmission systems. In 1907 Peter Behrens was appointed as artistic consulatant to AEG, an event which brought about the creation of the worlds first corporate identity, with products and advertising sharing common design features - all linked to the company name AEG. The company expanded in the first half of the 20th Century and is credited with a number of firsts and inventions in the electrical engineering field. During the same period it entered the automobile and airplane markets. Electrical equipment for railways was also produced during this time - starting a long history of supplying the German railways with electrical equipment. After the black period of the Second World War the company lost those businesses located in the eastern part of Germany. In 1967, after a merger, the company was renamed AEG Telefunken. The company experienced financial difficulties during the 1970s resulting in the sale of some of its assets; in 1983 the consumer electronics division was sold and the company re-took the name AEG. In 1985 the remainder of the company was acquired by Daimler-Benz; the parts that remained were primarily related to electric power distribution, and electric motor technology. Under Daimler Benz ownership the former AEG rump companies eventually become part of the newly named Adtranz in 1995. In 1996 AEG as a manufacturing company ceased to exist. Time line - from foundation to 1940
The origins of the company can be traced to 1882, when Emil Rathenau who had acquired licences to use some of Thomas Edisons lamp patents in Germany. The Deutsche Edison Gesellschaft (DEG) (literal: German Edison Company) was founded in 1883 with the financial backing of various banks and private individuals, with Emil Rathenau as company director. In 1884 the Munich born engineer Oskar von Miller (who later became the founder of the Deutsches Museum) joins the executive board. The same year the company enters negotiations with the Berlin Magistrat (the municipal body) to supply a large area from a central supply, which successfully result in the formation of the Städtische Elektricitäts-Werke AG zu Berlin (AGStEW) (literal: City electricity works company (berlin)) on the 8th of May 1884 - this date is considered to be the birthday of the German electrical industry. The original factory was located near Berlin Nordbahnhof (then named Stettin bahnhof). In 1887, the Company acquired land in the Berlin-Gesundbrunnen area on which the Weddingsche Maschinenfabrik (founded by Wilhelm Wedding) was previously located. In the same year, in addition to a restructuring and expansion of the production range the name AEG was adopted. In 1887 Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrowolsky joined the company as chief engineer, later becoming vice-director. His work on rotary power, building on the work of Nikolai Tesla, led to the first practical application of an AC motor in the world. In 1891 Miller and Dobrovolski succeeded in demonstrating the transmission of electrical power over a distance of 175 km from a hydro electric power plant in Lauffen am Neckar to Frankfurt, where it lit 1000 light bulbs and drove an artificial waterfall - at the International Electrotechnical Exhibition in Frankfurt am Main. This success marked one of beginnings of the general use of alternating current for electrification in Germany, and showed that distance transfer of electrical power could useful economically. Additionally, in the same year the Stadtbahn Halle/Saale (City railway Halle - Saale) is opened - being the first electric tram system (of notable size) in Germany Tropp Paul began his work for the AEG 1889/90 until 1893, and Franz Schwechten designed the facades of the Acker- und Hussitenstraße 1894-95. In 1894 the site of the former Berlin Viehmarktgasse (cattle market) was purchased. This had a siding connecting to the Berlin rail network produced, but there was no rail connection between the two plants - therefore in 1895 a link between the two plots was built as an underground railway in a specially designed tunnel of 270 meters in length. The tunnel was implemented by Siemens & Halske (S & H) (later to become Siemens) under the direction of C. Schwebel and Wilhelm Lauter - this is now the Spree tunnel Stralau - used by public transport. In 1903 the competing radio companies of AEG with and of Siemens & Halkse are merged forming a joint subisdary company with the name Telefunken. In 1907 the architect Peter Behrens became an artistic adviser. Responsible for the design of all products, advertising and architecture, he has since become considered as the world's first corporate designer.
The activity of the company soon extended to all areas of electrical power engineering, in particular to electric lighting, electric power, electric railways, electro-chemical plants, as well as the construction of steam turbines, automobiles, cables and cable materials. In the first decades, the company had many factories in and around Berlin: On the 20th June 1915 the founder, Emil Rathenau dies aged 77.
A number of other notable events involving AEG occurred in this period:
The Nazi era and World War IIDocuments show that AEG donated 60,000 Reichsmarks to the Nazi party after the Secret Meeting of 20 February 1933 at which the twin goals of complete power and national rearmament were explained by Hitler. During World War II, an AEG factory near Riga used female slave labour. AEG were also contractored for the production of electrical equipment at Auschwitz concentration camp. 1945 to 1970In 1945, after the Second World War, the production in the factories in the western sectors of Berlin and Nuremberg, Stuttgart and Mulheim an der Ruhr resumed and further new works were erected, among others an Electric meter plant in Hameln. The steam and electric locomotive plant in Hennigsdorf (Fabriken Hennigsdorf) became a Volkseigener Betrieb (VEB) (people owned enterprise) as the Lokomotivbau Elektrotechnische Werke (LEW) (literal: electric locomotive works). The cable plant (Draht-, Kabel- und Metallwerk Oberspree) and apparatus factory (Apparatefabrik Treptow) and other facilities also lay in East Germany and became Sowjetische Aktiengesellschaft (SAG) (Soviet joint stock companies). Over 90% of assets in Berlin lay in the Russian occupied zone and were lost. The headquarters for the non-expropriated parts of the company were moved first to Hamburg and then finally to Frankfurt am Main, the headquarters in Berlin having been destroyed.
1970s onwards
ProductsLocomotives and railway technology
The importance of AEG to the history of the German railways cannot be underestimated (along with competitors Siemens and ABB and its predecessors) - the company was involved on the development and manufacture of the electrical parts of almost all German electric locomotive series, as well as its overall contribution to the introduction of electrical power to Germany. Additionally many steam locomotives were made in the works of the AEG. In 1931 the company transferred the locomotive production to the AEG-Borsig works (Borsig Lokomotiv-Werke GmbH) from the plant in Hennigsdorf. In 1948 the plant became VEB Lokomotivbau Elektrotechnische Werke. In addition to numerous electric locomotives produced for the DR steam locomotive production continued until 1954. When the Federal Republic of Germany began implementing AC propulsion systems AEG found itself in competition with BBC. The prototype DB Class E320 was built with Krupp as dual voltage (15 kV and 25 kV AC) test machine, the technology ultimately leading to locomotives such as DB Class 120 and ICE 1. Only after German reunification and the adoption of the LEW plant in Hennigsdorf did AEG's name return to whole locomotive manufacturing, but only for a short time. "AEG locomotives GmbH " became part of ABB Daimler-Benz Transportation (later ADtranz) and currently the technolgy developed in the past, in part, now enables Bombardier Transportation to build the very sucessful TRAXX series of locomotives. Aircraft
Additionally, AEG manufactured a range of aircraft from 1910 to 1918. The first aircraft in 1912 was of wooden construction and modeled after the biplane of the Wright brothers. It had a wingspan of 17.5 m, powered by an eight-cylinder engine producing 75 hp; unladen weight was 850 kg and could attain a speed of 65 km / h. From 1912, the construction of airplanes in mixed wood and steel tube construction with fabric covering. One of the planes designed and built was the R-plane (the R was an abbreviation of "Riesenflugzeug" (giant aircraft)) AEG R.I. This aircraft was powered by four 260 h.p. Mercedes D.IVa engines linked to a combination leather cone and dog clutch. The first flight tests were satisfactory, but on September 3, 1918 the R.I broke up in the air killing its seven crewmen. During the Second World War AEG produced machines for reconnaissance purposes, including a helicopter platform driven by an AC motor, the power supply was carried by three cables from the ground, this was a tethered craft - the machine could not fly freely. The machine reached an altitude of 300 m. CarsAEG bought Kühlstein in 1902, founding the division Neue Automobil Gesellschaft (New Automobile Company), to make cars. AEG withdrew from car production in 1908. Models produced include: Film projectorsAEG also produced for a long period a series of film projectors. :
The AEG brand name post dissolutionAfter the breakup and dissolution of the company the brand name was still seen to have a value. Electrolux acquired the brand and the name is also licensed to various companies:
Chronology
External links
Text from Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License; additional terms may apply.
Published in July 2009. Click here to read more articles related to aviation and space!
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