Emil Rathenau(1838-1915)
After completing school, Rathenau completed practical training in his uncle's machine factory in Lower Silesia from 1855 to 1859. He then studied at the Polytechnic in Hanover and at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. He began his professional life in 1862 at the "August Borsig Locomotive Factory". He then worked for various companies in England. In 1865, together with a school friend, he acquired a machine factory in Berlin to build portable steam engines. In 1866 he married Mathilde Nachmann, daughter of a wealthy Frankfurt banker. The marriage resulted in two sons.
In 1873 the company was converted into a stock corporation that left Rathenau. With new capital he now tried to set up a telephone network in Berlin. However, the plans failed due to the Reichspost's claim to a monopoly. The attempt to promote the expansion of electric street lighting together with Werner von Siemens also failed. At the International Electricity Exhibition in Paris in 1881, he met the American scientist Thomas Alva Edison. In 1882, Emil Rathenau received licenses from Edison to commercially exploit his patents in Germany.
In 1983, the "German Edison Society" was founded under the leadership of Oskar von Miller and Rathenau. In 1887 the American Edison Company broke away from the company, which from then on operated as "AEG Allgemeine Electricity Company". In 1890 Oskar von Miller left the company and Rathenau became general director. Siemens and Deutsche Bank then invested in the company, which became an internationally active group in the following years. AEG produced power plants, railways and electrical machines and devices in various areas. The major cooperation agreement with Siemens ended in 1894, but continued to exist through the expansion of the "Telefunken Gesellschaft für Telegraphie", founded in 1903.
When the crisis in the electrical industry arose at the turn of the century, AEG emerged unscathed through a targeted merger and investment policy. In 1903 his son Walther Rathenau became a member of the AEG board of directors. From 1912 onwards, Emil Rathenau withdrew from active business due to illness, and his son followed him in the position of general director.
In 1873 the company was converted into a stock corporation that left Rathenau. With new capital he now tried to set up a telephone network in Berlin. However, the plans failed due to the Reichspost's claim to a monopoly. The attempt to promote the expansion of electric street lighting together with Werner von Siemens also failed. At the International Electricity Exhibition in Paris in 1881, he met the American scientist Thomas Alva Edison. In 1882, Emil Rathenau received licenses from Edison to commercially exploit his patents in Germany.
In 1983, the "German Edison Society" was founded under the leadership of Oskar von Miller and Rathenau. In 1887 the American Edison Company broke away from the company, which from then on operated as "AEG Allgemeine Electricity Company". In 1890 Oskar von Miller left the company and Rathenau became general director. Siemens and Deutsche Bank then invested in the company, which became an internationally active group in the following years. AEG produced power plants, railways and electrical machines and devices in various areas. The major cooperation agreement with Siemens ended in 1894, but continued to exist through the expansion of the "Telefunken Gesellschaft für Telegraphie", founded in 1903.
When the crisis in the electrical industry arose at the turn of the century, AEG emerged unscathed through a targeted merger and investment policy. In 1903 his son Walther Rathenau became a member of the AEG board of directors. From 1912 onwards, Emil Rathenau withdrew from active business due to illness, and his son followed him in the position of general director.