ELECTRICITY OF AGE Siemens Historical Institute Photographs from the in ElectricalEngineering Pioneering Achievements

3 Contents

7 Preface

Introduction 8 Brief History of Siemens, 1880–1930 18 Expansion of International Business Activities 26 Production Program and Production Locations

Success Stories

37 Energy 101 Mobility 165 Indu stry 233 Communications

262 The Photographic Archive of the Siemens Historical Institute

Appendix 266 Selected Bibliography 268 Index cal engineeringindustry. tained in its collection of historical photographs about the company andthe electri- book, Siemensprovides arepresentative lookatthemore than750,000 imagescon- Europe, LatinAmerica, andAsiaintheperiodfrom the1880stoearly1930s. In this the pioneeringachievementsofthiselectricalengineeringcompany inGermany, enterprise brothers Wilhelm andCarl, theelectricalpioneerbuiltaninternationally active mechanic Johann Georg Halske, and in closecollaboration with his two younger ideasofWernerand visionary vonSiemens. Together withhispartner, theprecision of thiselectricalengineeringenterprisewas dueabovealltotheinnovative concepts credible technical achievement,quality, reliability, andinternationality. than 160years, theSiemensnameand brand have stoodforinnovative strength, in- asSiemens.enterprises canlookbackonsuchalongandsuccessfulhistory For more From a small backyard workshop in Berlin to a global enterprise: only a few industrial Preface Institute ( photographs whichhaveinthecollectionsofSiemensHistorical beenpreserved development andindustrialization. life,ture and day-to-day and thus the company’s contribution to economic important minates thekey role played bySiemensintheworldwideelectrificationofinfrastruc - success storiesinthefieldsofenergy, mobility, industry, andcommunicationsillu- preneurs andtheriseofpower engineeringindustry. The presentation ofselected butions ofWerner vonSiemens;instead,itfocusesonthesecondgeneration ofentre tury. The company stillbearshisnametoday.

In theearlyyears ofTelegraphen-Bauanstalt vonSiemens&Halske, thesuccess Selected electrificationprojects are presentedtextsandnumerous usingshort This volume, however, isnotmainlydevotedto the accomplishmentsandcontri- SHI —

a “Weltfirma” (globalcompany) ). These photographs convey avividandmemorable impression of —

in thesecondhalfof19thcen- Siemens HistoricalInstitute -

7 Preface 36 Energieversorgung 1931 1931 1929 1926 1916 1913 1907 1905 1897 1896

En Cacheuta HydroelectricPlant Tocopilla SteamPower Plant Komahashi HydroelectricPlant Necaxa HydroelectricPlant near Johannesburg Brakpan Coal-Fired Power Plant Großkraftwerk West, Berlin Soochow ElectricPower Plant The ShannonScheme Großkraftwerk Franken Moscow SteamPower Plant e rgy South Africa Ireland Germany Mexico Chile Suzhou, China Argentina Japan

37 Brakpan Coal-Fired Power Plant near Johannesburg 46 energy Electric Works ( sumers atthegoldmines. Rand Central over high- cheap. The generated power was carried coal minesinBrakpan, where fuelwas a coal mines andcity simultaneously. that couldsupplyelectricpower to The solution:athree were nolongerabletomeettheneed. toria. Ultimatelylocalpower producers was growing inJohannesburg andPre power. At thesametime, energy demand which meantagreater needforelectric harder rock. That calledformore energy, to beminedbymachinebecauseofthe generally be mined byhand,goldhad Butwhilecoalcouldoutright goldrush. rand inTransvaal in1886, ittriggered an field was discovered ontheWitwaters­ When theworld’s largest knowngold toward theendof19thcentury. discovered at thesoutherntipofAfrica Extensive coalandgolddepositswere South Africa’s First PublicPower Plant 1897 transmit power at10,000 volts. plant inSouthAfrica, butthefirst to burg, was notjustthefirstpublicpower Siemens &Halske designedandbuilt -fired power plantrightnexttothe voltage linestovarious con­ Brakpan Coal-Fired Power PlantnearJohannesburg RCEW -phase power plant ), nearJohannes­ ­ jected plant good utilizationofcapacity atthepro the customers. All ofwhichensured burg, whichwouldnowalsobeamong tricity tothegrowing city ofJohannes­ also heldtheconcessiontosupplyelec­ Witwatersrand. For someyears ithad a power supplyfortheminesat tained aconcessiontobuildandoperate As afirststep, in1894Siemensob Built bySiemens&HalsketoDate The BiggestThree-Phase Plant on lineattheendof1897 Siemens &Halske hadeverbuilt went threebiggest and operate theplant. Europe andkept onthe jobtobuild skilled workers hadtoberecruited from ture was essential,because enough plete withstables. Somuchinfrastruc ­ with amansionforthedirector, com­ for married menandbachelors, together ing houses, andotheraccommodations houses,to bebuilt,butapartment board­ not justthepower plantitselfthathad Halske hadbuilttodateinBerlin.It was on thepower plantsthatSiemens& plant’s technical equipmentwas based founded specificallyfortheproject. The a London-basedcompany thathadbeen from RandCentral ElectricWorks Ltd., began attheendof1895underacontract successful business. Construction work After two the years ofconstruction, — -phase power plant

an important factorforan important —

at firstwith ­

­ burg, amongothercustomers. half oftheelectricpower forJohannes­ plant reached fullcapacity, supplying with allfourgenerators running, the by theendofyear. Then, in1903, and power production ramped upagain undamaged. The equipmentwas rebuilt, only onegenerator escapedlargely blew upthegenerators earlyin1901 itself atarget The fordestruction. rebels operations butmakingthepower plant pire, notonlyinterferingwithmining the Boerrepublics andtheBritishEm­ the SecondBoerWar broke outbetween gold minesjoinedtheclientele. to incandescentelectriclamps. Other in Johannesburg increasingly gave way 19th century. For example, gaslighting rose steadily uptotheendof sumer end. lowered to120or500voltsatthecon­ to 10,000 volts. The voltagewas then creased thegenerators’ 700- transmission losses, transformers in­ tors. Onewas kept inreserve. To reduce only three of itsfourthree But there were alsosetbacks. In 1899 The region’s demandforelectricity South Africa -phase genera ­ volt power — View ofthepowerplant, engines. would beenoughcoaltofuelthesteam and ahalfkilometersaway, ensured there built rail linetotheBrakpan coalmine, two supplied thewater forsteam.Aspecially plant was builtontheBrakpan Dam, which The RandCentral ElectricWorks power 1898

Brakpan Coal-Fired Power Plant near Johannesburg 47 energy Brakpan Coal-Fired Power Plant near Johannesburg 48 energy generators Each oftheSiemens&Halske three Machine room, day to about4,000 kW. system. The totalavailable capacity came from aboilerunitwithanautomaticfiring the generators, were suppliedwithsteam engines, whichwere coupleddirectly to —

generated 975 kWat700V. The steam —

among the biggest oftheiramong thebiggest 1897 -phase Machine room, 80 metrictons For example, thegenerators be shippedtoSouthAfrica inthefirstplace. sothatitcouldsign themassivemachinery location, anothermajorchallengewas tode Besides thedifficultinstallationworkon meters from BerlintoBrakpan. totravelparts themore than13,000 kilo — 1897

were dismantledintofour —

weighing ­ ­

Brakpan Coal-Fired Power Plant near Johannesburg 49 energy Brakpan Coal-Fired Power Plant near Johannesburg 50 energy Boer republic. mining was thebackboneofself-assured parliament, theVolksraad. After all,gold Kruger andmembersoftheSouthAfrican during itsopeningyear from President Paul was highlightedbyavisitimportance September 18, 1897:theplant’s exceptional A visitbytheVolksraad, 1897 40 kilometersaway. to thegoldmines, buttoJohannesburg, From here, power was suppliednotonly Control board, 1898

Brakpan Coal-Fired Power Plant near Johannesburg 51 energy Overview 100 Mobility 1933 1923 1915 1913 1913 1911 1911 1899 1897 1896 1884 1908 1907 1905 1904 1902

Mobility isrnbnn Kiruna –Riksgränsen Riksgränsbanan Pachuca Passenger andFreight Railway The “FliegenderHamburger”Berlin Soerabaja Tramway Constantinople Tram System itred Railway Dessau –Bitterfeld Pölten –Mariazell St. Mariazellerbahn Mine RailwaySchoppinitz Blankenese –Ohlsdorf Hamburg-Altonaer Stadt-undVorortbahn Murnau –Oberammergau Lokalbahn Hüttenwerke, Lorraine Industrial RailLinesatRombacher Elektrische Hoch-undUntergrundbahnBerlin Tram Interurban Beijing –Ma-chia-pu Salvador Tram Franz-Josef-Elektrische UntergrundbahnBudapest Tram Frankfurt –Offenbach Brazil Surabaya, Indonesia Germany Szopienice, Germany Germany Istanbul, – Hamburg Germany China Mexico Germany Germany

Overview 101 The First ElectricSubwayontheEuropean Continent 1896 Franz-Josef-Elektrische Untergrundbahn construction firmofBudapest. construction work was performed bytheRobert Wünsch Excavation andallconcrete andinstallation Andrássy Alleeconstructionsite, 1895 Hungary nium Exposition in connectionwiththeBudapestMillen- many large projects were undertaken oftheMagyarsary conquestofHungary, celebrations ofthemillennialanniver to Budapest.In thelead-upto1896 revolution alsoremained largely limited centrated initscapital;theindustrial Hungary’s economicdevelopment con- centralized governmentalorganization, 1900 alone. Becauseofthecountry’s 371,000 to732,000 between 1880and of Vienna. The populationgrew from became themostsignificantcity east drew toaclose. The metropolis a livelyupswingasthe19thcentury Hungarian Empire since1867, enjoyed of theHungarian halfoftheAustro- Budapest, whichhadbeenthecapital traffic problems. out exacerbatingthecity’s already severe the Stadtwäldchen municipalparkwith- visitors quicklytotheexhibitionsitein themanycarry expectedExposition continent. electric subway ontheEuropean The subway’s mainpurposewas to —

including thefirst - tram companies the city centertoward thepark. transportation tobeextendedoutfrom celebrations created pressure forpublic buses. Buttheimpendingmillennium omni- landau carriages andhorse-drawn boulevard couldbe traveled onlyby tance. In thosedays, Budapest’s grand came togriefbecauseofofficialresis - the city’s key thoroughfares, repeatedly streetcar line onAndrássy Allee, oneof Siemens &Halske. Planstobuildanother streetcar system builtandfinancedby drawn trams, aswell asanearlyelectric had anextensivenetwork ofhorse- At thebeginningof1890s, Budapest A RaceagainstTime Gesellschaft and BudapesterStraßeneisenbahn- Stadt­bahn-Actien-Gesellschaft trische on August 9, and 1894,theconstruction bureaucracy. After onlyafewmonths, levelsofthethrough thenecessary essence, the project had to passswiftly was aboveground. Sincetimewas ofthe Stadtwäldchen municipal parkitself, oftheroute,only thelastpart inthe Waitzner Boulevard andAndrássy Allee; the Pestof oftown, part by way of site from Giselaplatz,inthecenter largely underground totheexhibition route, 3.75 kilometerslong, wouldrun developed bySiemens&Halske. The authorities withadesignformetro At theendofJanuary1894,two —

presented themunicipal —

Budapester elek - 370,000 car-kilometers. 2.3 millionpassengers, andcovered September alone, ithadcarried nearly the heaviest travel hours. By theendof two minutesating asoftenevery from 6a.m.till1a.m.,withcarsdepart For theduration oftheExposition,itran with great ceremony onMay 2,1896. new metro was ready ontime. It opened project was intheplanning stage, the have beenforeseen whenthepioneering ing no time, work beganonAugust 13. for thecars.equipment electrical Wast andthework onthesystem construction That leftjust20monthstodoallthe to beready in timeforthe“Millennium.” ject totherequirement thatthelinehad operation concession was granted Heritage Sites. Andrássy Allee were declared World network. In 2002,today’s M1Lineand integral oftheBudapestMetro part as the“Millennium Metro,” itisstillan many timessincethen.Now known pean continenthasbeenmodernized The firstelectricsubway ontheEuro Despite sometroubles thatcouldnot — sub - - - -

Franz-Josef-Elektrische Untergrundbahn Budapest 107 Mobility 3,000 metrictonsofiron. 47,000 cubicmetersofconcrete and excavated. The structures took support 140,000 were cubicmetersofearth site was litwitharc lights. Atotalofsome went onintwo shifts. After dark,the Since there was little timetolose, work Excavation onAndrássyAllee, 1894

Franz-Josef-Elektrische Untergrundbahn Budapest 109 Mobility Franz-Josef-Elektrische Untergrundbahn Budapest 110 Mobility stalled. before thesteelroof structure was in- poured afterthat.The photo showsthesite The foundationandsidewalls were the ground was excavated andcarried off. First thepavement was tornup, then The subway was builtsegmentbysegment. Construction siteinGiselaplatz, 1895 high, were concrete. pillars Steelsupport roof ofthetunnel,aconsistent2.85 meters pavement. The foundation,sidewalls, and method. It ran directly underthestreet tunnel was builtusingthecut-and-cover Since timewas soprecious, thesubway Construction sitenearEötvösgasse, 1894 filled inwithpoured concrete. between theindividualbeamswere the steelframe was inplace, thespaces thesteelroofto support beams. Once were anchored onthefoundationslab

Franz-Josef-Elektrische Untergrundbahn Budapest 111 Mobility Franz-Josef-Elektrische Untergrundbahn Budapest 112 Mobility steam engines, eachdrivingaSiemens through theadditionoftwo compound machine. of BudapesterelektrischeStadtbahn the existingGärtnerstraßepower plant plant, whichwas created byexpanding electricity from itsownsmallpower The BudapestMetro was powered with Interior viewofthepowerplant, 1896 AG DC

from doubleoverheadcontactlines. sectionwas poweredwhile theabove-ground that usedminerails attached tothetunnelroof, The power supply tunnelsectionhadatwo-pole ofthetunnel,whichwas sixmeterswide.length The metro ran ontwo tracks fortheentire municipal park, Tunnel portalinStadtwäldchen 1896 pale-colored majolicatile.pale-colored was connectedtoakiosk,were linedwith staircases ofwhich ofthispavilion, part design forthewaiting rooms. The walls and The city authoritiessetgreat store ongood The Franz DeákplatzMetroStation, 1896 car had28seatsand14placesforstandees. “Kleine U-Bahn” (little metro). Each small, attracting thesystem thenickname metro tunnel,thecarswere relatively Siemens &Halske. To fitthenarrow All electricalequipmentwas suppliedby Budapest plantoftheSchlickcompany. The metro ran 20railcars builtat the Four-axle metrocar, 1896

Franz-Josef-Elektrische Untergrundbahn Budapest 113 Mobility 164 Energieversorgung 1933 1930 1928 1928 1925 1929 1929 1916 1913 1912 1908 1905 1904 1895 1894 1893 1907

Industry y Cartones,Carena Compañía ManufactureradePapeles Kedawoeng SugarFactory, Kedawoeng Cableway toTable Mountain,CapeTown Peiner Walzwerk, Peine Cotonificio Triestino Brunner,Gorizia Nippon Kokan, Tokyo Ihsien Mine,Tsaochuang Stickstoffwerke Piesteritz,Piesteritz Druckerei RudolfMosse,Berlin Zeche ZollernII,Dortmund C. G.HoffmannSpinningMill,Neugersdorf Witkowitzer Eisenwerke,Witkowitz Bevan Works, Northfleet Glückhilf Mine,Hermsdorf Gustav Fritzsche, Leipzig Königlich SächsischeHofbuchbinderei Rijnhaven, Rotterdam Georgsmarienhütte, Osnabrück Chile Japan Germany Germany Zaozhuang, China Sobie˛ cin,Poland Germany Germany Germany Vítkovice, CzechRepublic Germany Kedawung, Indonesia South Africa Germany

165 Ihsien Mine, Tsaochuang 202 Industry China from the very start. EvenChina from start. before thevery closely linked withtheelectrificationof of themfrom China. some 300employees, about80percent (Kunming). In 1926SiemensChinahad (Hankou), Hong Kong, andYünnanfu Mukden (Shenyang), Harbin, Hankow offices inTientsin (Tianjin), Beijing, its Shanghaiheadquarters, ithadmajor ness earlyinthe1920s. In additionto enjoyed avigorousofitsbusi- recovery persistent civilwar. industrial upswingwas hindered by vast potential tobetappedhere, any vations prevailed. Butthoughthere was distasteforalltechnicalinno a certain opened toworldtrade. In theinterior in thecoastalcities, whichhad been trialization hadgainedafootholdonly sufficient natural resources. Yet indus- of some400millionatthetime, and burden. hadapopulation The country World War, andalsowas undernodebt China hadsuffered little intheFirst wars. Unlike many othercountries, intheyears betweenindustry theworld for theGermanelectricalengineering continued tobeaninteresting market before theturn ofthecentury, China Following initialcontracts intheperiod The LatestMiningTechnology 1925 The Siemensname hadbeenvery Amid thissetting, SiemensChinaCo. Ihsien Mine,T saochuang - attack duringthe civilwars. Finally, the mineinstallationtoprotect itfrom four-kilometer wall around fortification ofausual detailwas theconstruction Drainage was alsoelectrified.Oneun- system forashaft320metersdeep. plant, Siemensbuiltanelectrichoisting Mining Co. In additiontothepower and was ownedbyChungHsing Coal time China’s third-largest coalproducer, opened upbackinthe1870s, was bythis for European businesses. The coalmine, asrolecould havemodelseven served ultramodern facilitiesaround 1925that — Province. Here theSiemenscompanies Tsaochuang inShantung(Shandong) One examplewas theIhsien minenear Mining Industry Electrifying theChinese trial operations. supply, andto electrify mines andindus- power plantsforapublicelectricity years in winningcontracts tooutfitmore tional competitionduringtheinter-war Siemens tobeatoutincreasing interna- Pioneering projects like thisonehelped away, viaa23,000-volt high-voltage line. was conveyed to Yünnanfu, kilometers35 commissioned in1913, andelectricity wasthe southwestern ofthecountry part The hydroelectric plantnear inYünnanfu tric plantanditsfirsthigh-voltage line. werke hadbuiltChina’s firsthydroelec- the First World War, Siemens-Schuckert

again thefirstinChina Zaozhuang, China —

installed ­ Siemens. X-ray machines, was alsosuppliedby medical equipment,includingthelatest was of thehighestquality. All electrical North America. The medicalequipment Chinese doctorstrained inEurope or built alarge, modernhospital,headedby new pathsinsocialaspectsaswell. It with more than security the minetoguard it. and machineguns” were stationedat 500 soldiers“withthebestsmallarms But minemanagementwas concerned —

it openedup foreground. poses proudly onamotorcycle inthe A visitorfrom theparent plant The headframe ofthehoistisvisible. Part ofthehoistsystem, 1920 s

Industry Ihsien Mine, Tsaochuang 204 Industry power plant. the boilerhouseofcompany’s Workers fuelthesteamboilersin A viewoftheboilerhouse, 1920 s the differences intheirclothesandposture. is clearlyevidentinthepicture from workers andtheEuropean management The socialdistancebetween thelocal Workers atacontrolpillar, The machineroom hadtwo 900k A viewofthemachineroom, steam generators, andtwo 2,000 k capacity of5,800 k turbo sets, addinguptoatotalplant VA . 1920 1920 s s VA VA

Ihsien Mine, Tsaochuang 205 Industry Ihsien Mine, Tsaochuang 206 Industry business. a chancetotapintoadditionallinesof standards fortheday, andgave Siemens The medicalequipmentsetnewChinese Medical deviceatthehospital, 1920 s was 500kW. system was usedforcontrol. Capacity in thebackground. AWard-Leonard-Ilgner in theforeground, andthedrivemotoris The forthehoistcanbeseen winchdrum Part ofthehoistsystem, 1920 s technical andcommercial capacities. worked mainly asassistantsin European hands. Chinese employees Mine managementwas largely in Worker, 1920 s

Ihsien Mine, Tsaochuang 207 Industry 232 Energieversorgung 1929 1929 1921 1913 1910 1906 1906

Communi oeseae Friedrichshafen –Romanshorn Bodenseekabel Berlin Telephone Offices Fernamt BerlinWinterfeldtstraße Cable Long-Distance Paris –Bordeaux Beijing’s Western Telephone Office Section Berlin –Magdeburg Rheinlandkabel, Cable Channel Dover –Calais c ations Germany United Kingdom/France Germany China France Germany Germany/

233 Bodenseekabel Friedrichshafen – Romanshorn 238 communications of aPupincabletoanothercountry. Siemens &Halske madeitsfirst delivery Germany in1901;three years later, equipped withloadingcoilsbeganin with “pupinized” telephonecables technical details. The firstexperiments researchers hadtoresolve anumberof be appliedinpractical use, theSiemens commonly calledloadingcoils fore these“Pupincoils” around theturnofcentury. Butbe European licensesforPupin’s patents missions. Siemens&Halske acquired the range andquality oftelephonetrans- soastoincrease intervals theat certain with iron cores intothetelephonelines the ideaofintroducing inductancecoils physicist livingintheUnited Stateshad of the19thcentury, theSerbian-born distance telephoneservice. At theend a fundamentalimprovement inlong- than about35kilometers. remained limited toarange ofnomore cause ofphysical problems, telephones lines.now thefirstlong-distance Butbe In additiontolocalnetworks, there were the telephonewas already decadesold. dawned,By thetime20thcentury The World’s First SubmarinePupinCable 1906 Michael Pupinwas responsible for oeseae Friedrichshafen –Romanshorn Bodenseekabel —

now more —

could - - ers atSiemens&Halske coulddraw on In solvingtheseproblems, theresearch- would ariseasitslippedintothewater. withstand thestrong tensileforces that had tobeflexibleandstableenough At thesametime, cablethe lead-sheathed out significantly increasing thediameter. fitted intothelead-sheathed cablewith- that was smallandflexibleenoughtobe that acoilsleevehadtobedeveloped ofthetelephonecable.part This meant was laid; theywere anintegral structural porated orsplicedinbefore thecable Here the total of 22 coils had to be incor with theBodenseekabelwas different. the cablealongline. The situation protective casesandeasilysplicedinto loading coilscouldreadily beinstalledin Pupin cablesonlyonland,where the Until now, Siemens&Halske hadlaid but withObstacles A Pioneeringchievement, a range ofnearly350kilometers. Bavaria. The cablewas designedfor be forcallsbetween Switzerland and temberg andSwitzerland; fourwould distance telephonecallsbetween Würt copper wires wouldbeusedforlong- horn. Three ofitstotalsevenpairs between Friedrichshafen andRomans­ would belaidthrough Lake Constance trical engineeringcompany. The cable 12 kilometerslong, from theBerlinelec- telephonecable,a long-distance about und Telegrafenverwaltung ordered In 1905theWürttembergische Post- - - cessfully improvements onthecable. months tomake repairs andstructural stallers and splicers used the intervening summer ofthenextyear. The cablein- built. The project was postponedtothe machinehadtobefied cable-laying work couldbeattempted again,amodi- cable tobeunrolled evenly. Before the too smallforthelead-sheathedPupin specially borrowed from Englandwere and sternsheave onalaying machine rollerthat thediametersofdelivery of 1905,fellthrough. Oneproblem was the Lake Constance cable, inthefall business. inthesubmarinecabletation asexperts ers &Co. hadearnedaworldwiderepu- and America (1874/75), SiemensBroth- 3,000 kilometerslongbetween Europe ful laying ofatelegraph cablemore than English branch. Asearlyasthesuccess- of theircolleaguesatthecompany’s the skillsandmany years ofexperience in service fordecades.in service first submarinePupincableremained into thewater undamaged.The world’s dance, thesensitive coilsleevesslipped numerous guestsandonlookers inatten- The finalattempt tookplace Nevertheless, thefirstattempt tolay Germany/Switzerland —

on August 9, 1906. With —

suc- to formasinglerigidunit. it hadtobecoupledwithasaloonsteamer had nopropulsion mechanismofitsown, barge boat.Sincethisferry as acable-laying cars across Lake Constance was retrofitted railroadthat was usedtocarry freight To lay thetelephonecable, oneofthebarges Twin boat, 1906

Bodenseekabel Friedrichshafen – Romanshorn 239 communications wooden contraption. on board thecableboatviaanelaborate On arrival, thecablehadtobeloaded to Friedrichshafen inopenfreight cars. cable plant),was shippedfrom Berlin & Halske’s Kabelwerk Westend (Westend The telephonecable, produced atSiemens Friedrichshafen harborrailstation, 1905 lead sheathing. round steelwires was appliedunderthe resistant spiral composedofindividual water. To armorthecablecore, apressure- and chemicalstresses aswell asleaking had tobedulyprotected from mechanical reaches 25atmospheres. SothePupincable much as250meters, where water pressure The Bodenseekabelran atdepthsofas Workers armoringthecable, Friedrichshafen. last fewmetersinbothRomanshorn and boatswere used forthesmaller auxiliary the way uptotheshore ofLake Constance, boatcouldnotsailallSince thecable-laying at Romanshorn, Laying thecabletoshore 1906 1906

Bodenseekabel Friedrichshafen – Romanshorn 241 communications Bodenseekabel Friedrichshafen – Romanshorn 242 communications machinery was mountedonthestern. machinery boat.The layingbow ofthecable-laying in aringninemetersdiameterthe a totalofsome110metrictons, was stored For laying, thetelephonecable, weighing Laying thecable, 1906 controlled withasimplerbraking device. slipped intothewater couldnothave been cables. The tensileforces onthecableasit cable brake thatwas usedfordeep-sea theless, ithadtobelaidwiththesame 12 kilometers, was relativelyNever short. The Bodenseekabel,atonlyabitmore than Cable-laying machinery, 1906 - its successfullaying. of theBodenseekabelasasouvenir of pioneer August Ebeling sawing offapiece Berlin. The photoshowsSiemenscable tions, aswell asnumerous guestsfrom bergian, andSwiss telegraph administra- attendance from theBavarian, Württem- The cablewas laidwithofficialsin on layingday, Project managersandworkers the process from thejetty intheharbor. in thework.Numerous onlookers watched The localpopulationtookalivelyinterest dredged channeloffFriedrichshafen, Laying theshoreendofcablein 1906

1906

Bodenseekabel Friedrichshafen – Romanshorn 243 communications