Einwilligung zur Nutzung.

As in Berlin (Siemens & Halske) and Nuremberg (Schuckert), the history of the Siemens AG company has its origin in artisanal operations. In 1877, Erwin Moritz Reiniger, a mechanic employed by the university, established a small business from which developed, by merger with Stuttgart precision mechanic Karl Schall and his business partner Max Gebbert, the Vereinigte physikalisch-mechanische Werkstätten ('Joint Physical-Mechanical Manufacture') of Reiniger, Gebbert, and Schall (RGS), in 1886.

Contributing to the success of the enterprise were mainly its pioneering achievements in the area of medical devices, so that the company soon withdrew from its second original field of operations, that of high-voltage installations. As early as 1914, the RGS AG – then Erlangen's largest enterprise – employed around 1000 persons, 880 of them locally.

In 1925, Siemens & Halske AG in Berlin became the majority shareholder of RGS after the company had been weakened financially by speculative business deals during hyperinflation. Successful collaboration with Siemens & Halske led to the founding of the Siemens-Reiniger-Werke AG in 1932. In the same year, Siemens & Halske transferred the manufacture of electromedical devices to the plant in Erlangen, making it the Siemens company's main production site for medical devices.

After the formation of Siemens AG in 1966, SRW was initially renamed Wernerwerk für medizinische Technik ('Werner Plant for Medical Technology'). Today, with a turnover of 7.2 billion DM (1995/96) and around 22,500 employees worldwide, medical technology is one of Siemens' larger product divisions. The division has its headquarters in Erlangen, and currently employs around 3700 waged and salaried employees locally.

The beginnings of electromedical technology

From its inception, RGS manufactured electromedical apparatus, including numerous devices used in electrotherapy. With the manufacture of the first industrially produced electric dental drill in 1890, the company also became a pioneer in electric dental technology.

A new chapter of electric medicine began in 1895 with the discovery of X-rays by Würzburg physics professor Conrad Röntgen. The then head of RGS, Max Gebbert, was one of the first entrepreneurs to recognise the potential applications of this discovery. Within three days of Röntgen publishing his research results, an RGS engineer travelled to Würzburg to gather information at the source. The first X-ray machines came onto the market as early as 1896. Thanks to its pioneering achievements in the area of X-ray technology, RGS became one of the largest electromedical companies in Germany.

The first X-ray machines were, however, still relatively simple devices, and prone to malfunction. Many years of research and development were required for the devices to reach their later standard of performance. Official regulations to protect from radiation were first issued in 1925.