Johann Georg Halske (30 July 1814 – 18 March 1890) was a German master
mechanic
A mechanic is an artisan, skilled tradesperson, or technician who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially cars.
Duties
Most mechanics specialize in a particular field, such as auto body mechanics, air conditioning and r ...
.
Biography
Born in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
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, postal ...
, Halske started his own workshop in Berlin in 1844, which he ran together with his partner
F. M. Böttcher. In 1847 Halske founded the
Siemens & Halske Telegraph Construction Company together with
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 ...
. Halske was particularly involved in the construction and design of electrical equipment such as the press which enabled wires to be insulated with a seamless coat of
gutta-percha
Gutta-percha is a tree of the genus ''Palaquium'' in the family Sapotaceae. The name also refers to the rigid, naturally biologically inert, resilient, electrically nonconductive, thermoplastic latex derived from the tree, particularly from ' ...
, the pointer
telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
and the
morse
Morse may refer to:
People
* Morse (surname)
* Morse Goodman (1917-1993), Anglican Bishop of Calgary, Canada
* Morse Robb (1902–1992), Canadian inventor and entrepreneur
Geography Antarctica
* Cape Morse, Wilkes Land
* Mount Morse, Churchi ...
telegraph and measuring instruments.
In 1867 he withdrew from the company because his views on company policy diverged from those of the Siemens brothers and devoted himself in his role as a Berlin city councillor to the administration of the city and the establishment of the
Museum of Decorative Art. He remained friends with Werner von Siemens until Halske's death in 1890.
Even after his departure, he continued to support the company and participated financially in the Siemens pension fund, founded in 1872.
References
External links
Lifelines: Johann Georg Halske. Vol. 1, ed. Siemens Historical Institute, Munich 2014Picture, biography, and bibliographyin the Virtual Laboratory of the
Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (German: Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte) is a scientific research institute founded in March 1994. It is dedicated to addressing fundamental questions of the history of knowledg ...
1814 births
1890 deaths
German mechanical engineers
German company founders
19th-century German businesspeople
Businesspeople from Hamburg
Siemens people
Engineers from Hamburg
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