Editing Telefunken

{{Short description|German radio and television apparatus company}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021|cs1-dates=y}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Telefunken
| logo = Telefunken.svg
| logo_size = 90px
| logo_caption = Logo since 1919
| type = 
| foundation = {{Start date and age|1903}}
| founder = 
| location = [[Berlin]], Germany
| key_people = 
| defunct = {{End date and age|1967}} merger with parent company [[AEG (German company)|AEG]] to [[AEG-Telefunken]] (1996 merger with [[Daimler-Benz]] and sale/dissolution various company parts), 2005 rename of the last former [[Telefunken division]]
| num_employees = 
| parent = [[Gordon Brothers]]
| revenue = 
| operating_income = 
| net_income = 
| assets = 
| equity = 
| industry = Electrical industry
| products = 
| slogan = 
| homepage = {{URL|telefunken.com}}
}}
'''Telefunken''' was a German radio and [[television]] producer, founded in [[Berlin]] in 1903 as a joint venture between [[Siemens & Halske]] and the ''[[AEG (German company)|Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft]]'' (AEG)<!-- right spelling, sic! --> ("General electricity company").
Prior to [[World War I]], the company set up the first world-wide network of communications<ref name="historyisnowmagazine.com">{{Cite web |date=2014-03-02 |title=The Scientist who World War I wrote out of history |url=http://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2014/3/2/the-scientist-who-world-war-i-wrote-out-of-history |access-date=2023-09-27 |website=History is Now Magazine, Podcasts, Blog and Books {{!}} Modern International and American history |language=en-US}}</ref> and was the first in the world to sell electronic televisions with [[cathode-ray tube]]s, in Germany in 1934.<ref name="etf"/><ref>[http://www.tvhistory.tv/1934-35-Telefunken-FEIII.JPG 1934–35 Telefunken], Television History: The First 75 Years.</ref>

The brand had several incarnations:
* ''Gesellschaft für drahtlose Telegraphie [[Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung|m.b.H.]], System Telefunken'', founded in 1903 as a [[joint venture]] between AEG and Siemens & Halske
* ''Telefunken, Gesellschaft für drahtlose Telegraphie m.b.H.'', in 1923; since 1941 as [[subsidiary]] of AEG alone
* ''Telefunken [[Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung|GmbH]]'', in 1955
* ''Telefunken [[Aktiengesellschaft]] (AG)'', in 1963
* ''Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft AEG-Telefunken'', created in 1967 through a merger between Telefunken and AEG
* AEG-TELEFUNKEN AG, in 1979
The company also had several subsidiaries and [[Corporate spin-off|spin-offs]] of its own:
* ''TELEFUNKEN Fernseh und Rundfunk GmbH'', formed in 1972 in [[Hanover]] as a subsidiary of AEG-TELEFUNKEN
* {{anchor|Telefunken electronic}}[[Telefunken electronic|Telefunken electronic GmbH]], a spin-off of AEG-Telefunken and [[DASA]]
* {{anchor|TEMIC}}{{ill|TEMIC{{!}}TEMIC TELEFUNKEN microelectronic GmbH|de|TEMIC}}, since 1992
* {{anchor|Telefunken Semiconductors}}{{ill|Telefunken Semiconductors{{!}}Telefunken Semiconductors GmbH & Co. KG|de|Telefunken Semiconductors}}, formed in [[Heilbronn]] in 2009
* Telefunken Lighting technologies S.L., since 2009

The company '''Telefunken USA''' was incorporated in early 2001 to provide restoration services and build reproductions of vintage Telefunken microphones.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-11-29 |title=TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik ™ - Services |url=http://www.telefunken-elektroakustik.com/services/index.php#facrestore |access-date=2023-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129213010/http://www.telefunken-elektroakustik.com/services/index.php#facrestore |archive-date=29 November 2010 }}</ref>

In 2023, Telefunken brand was acquired by the advisory and investment firm Gordon Brothers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gordon Brothers Acquires Telefunken |url=https://www.abfjournal.com/dailynews/gordon-brothers-acquires-telefunken/ |access-date=2023-11-09 |website=ABFJournal |language=en-US}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Triode REN904.jpg|thumb|Telefunken REN 904. A [[vacuum tube]] from 1930, used in early German radios.]]
[[File:Telefunken Digitale 45.jpg|thumb|Telefunken alarm clock from {{circa|1995}}, designed by [[Philippe Starck]]]]
[[File:Telefunken RC 881 CD.JPG|thumb|A Telefunken RC 881 cassette, CD player, and radio]]
[[File:Telefunken electric appliance water boiling Oct-2011 HK.jpg|thumb|Telefunken electric kettle from 2011]]
[[File:Telefunken Partner 200 1976 1978 radio receiver made in Germany.jpg|thumb|Telefunken Partner 200, radio receiver model produced 1976-1978 in Germany.]]

Around the start of the 20th century, two groups of German researchers worked on the development of techniques for wireless communication. The one group at AEG, led by [[Adolf Slaby]] and [[Georg von Arco|Georg Graf von Arco]], developed systems for the ''[[Kaiserliche Marine]]''; the other one, under [[Karl Ferdinand Braun]], at Siemens, for the German Army. Their main competitor was the British [[Marconi Company]].

When a dispute concerning [[patent]]s arose between the two companies, [[Kaiser Wilhelm II]] urged both parties to join efforts, creating '''''Gesellschaft für drahtlose Telegraphie System Telefunken''''' ("The Company for Wireless Telegraphy Ltd.") joint venture on 27 May 1903, with the disputed patents and techniques invested in it. On 17 April 1923, it was renamed ''Telefunken, The Company for Wireless Telegraphy''. Telefunken was the company's [[telegraphic address]]. The first technical director of Telefunken was Count [[Georg von Arco]].

Telefunken rapidly became a major player in the radio and electronics fields, both civilian and military. Prior to World War I the company set up the first world wide network of communications<ref name="historyisnowmagazine.com"/> and during the war they supplied radio sets and telegraphy equipment for the military, as well as building one of the first [[radio navigation]] systems for the [[Zeppelin]] force. The [[Telefunken Kompass Sender]] operated from 1908 to 1918, allowing the Zeppelins to navigate throughout the [[North Sea]] area in any weather.

In 1911 Telefunken built a wireless station in [[West Sayville]] just north of the [[Long Island Rail Road]] tracks. A 500-foot tower that could be raised and lowered rose from a ball and socket joint atop a concrete foundation. It was completed in 1912 and wireless messages could then be transmitted to a similar tower in [[Nauen]] 3,500 miles away. From August 1, 1914, until April 6, 1917, the United States monitored messages sent over the Telefunken wireless and the [[United States Marine Corps]] guarded the station. After the U.S. declared war the station was sealed off, the wire fence surrounding it was charged with electricity, and floodlights were placed throughout. After [[World War I]] it was taken over by Mackay Radio and Telegraph Company and later the [[Federal Aviation Administration]]. It was demolished in 1938.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Telefunken Radio Station at Sayville, Long Island|url=https://www.aes-media.org/historical/html/recording.technology.history/sayville.html/ |access-date=2024-01-21|website=aes-media l |language=en-US}}</ref>

Starting in 1923, Telefunken built broadcast transmitters and radio sets.  In 1928, Telefunken made history by designing the V-41 amplifier for the German Radio Network. This was the very first two-stage, "[[Hi-Fi]]" amplifier. Over time, Telefunken perfected their designs and in 1950 the V-72 amplifier was developed. The TAB (a manufacturing subcontractor to Telefunken) V-72 soon became popular with other radio stations and recording facilities. The V-72S was the only type of amplifier found in the REDD.37 console used by [[the Beatles]] at [[Abbey Road Studios]] on many of their early recordings. In 1932, record players were added to the product line.

In 1941, Siemens transferred its Telefunken shares to AEG as part of the agreements known as the "Telefunken settlement", and AEG thus became the sole owner and continued to lead Telefunken as a subsidiary (starting in 1955 as "Telefunken GmbH" and from 1963 as "Telefunken AG").

During the Second World War, Telefunken was a supplier of [[vacuum tube]]s, transmitters and radio relay systems, and developed Funkmess facilities (later referred to as radar devices by the US Navy)  and directional finders, as part of the German air defence against aerial bombing. During the war, manufacturing plants were shifted to and developed in west of Germany or relocated. Thus, Telefunken, under AEG, turned into the smaller subsidiary, with the three divisions realigning and data processing technology, elements as well as broadcast, television and phono. Telefunken was also the originator of the FM radio broadcast system. Telefunken, through the subsidiary company [[Teldec]] (a joint venture with [[Decca Records]]), was for many decades one of the largest German record companies, until Teldec was sold to [[Warner Music Group|WEA]] in 1988.

In 1959, Telefunken established a modern semiconductor works in [[Heilbronn]], where in April 1960 production began. The works was expanded several times, and in 1970 a new 6-storey building was built at the northern edge of the area. At the beginning of the 1970s it housed approximately 2,500 employees.

In 1967, Telefunken was merged with AEG, which was then renamed to AEG-Telefunken. In the beginning of the 1960s, [[Walter Bruch]] developed the [[PAL]]-[[colour television]] system for the company, in use by most countries of the [[western Hemisphere]] (except the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the western part of South America). PAL is established i.e. in the [[Television in the UK|United Kingdom]] (PAL-I) and, except France, many other European countries -&ndash;also in Brazil (PAL-M), Argentina (PAL-N), South Africa, India and Australia.

The [[mainframe computer]] TR 4<ref>{{cite journal|title=A SURVEY OF NEW WEST-EUROPEAN DIGITAL COMPUTERS (Part 1): GERMANY|journal=Computers and Automation|date=Sep 1963|volume=XII|issue=9|page=24|url=http://bitsavers.org/magazines/Computers_And_Automation/196309.pdf}}</ref> was developed at Telefunken in [[Backnang]], and the {{Interlanguage link|Telefunken TR 440|de|3=TR 440|lt=TR 440}} model was developed at Telefunken in [[Konstanz]], including the first [[ball mouse|ball-based mouse]] named [[Rollkugel (mouse device)|Rollkugel]] in 1968.<ref>{{cite web |title=The first rolling-ball mouse · e-basteln |url=http://www.e-basteln.de/computing/rollkugel/rollkugel/ |website=www.e-basteln.de |language=en-en}}</ref> The computers were in use at many German university computing centres from the 1970s to around 1985. The development and manufacture of large computers was separated in 1974 to the Konstanz Computer Company (CGK). The production of mini- and process computers was integrated into the automatic control engineering division of AEG. When AEG was bought by [[Daimler AG|Daimler]] in 1985, "Telefunken" was dropped from the company name.

In 1995, Telefunken was sold to Tech Sym Corporation (owners of Continental Electronics Corporation of Dallas) for $9 million. However, Telefunken remained a German company.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g5s_uDDZSjoC&q=history+of+Telefunken&pg=PA200|title=History of International Broadcasting|last=Wood|first=James|date=2000|publisher=IET|isbn=9780852969205|language=en}}</ref>

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Telefunken was also instrumental in the development of high quality audio noise reduction systems, including {{Interlanguage link|telcom c4|de}} (marketed since 1975), [[High&thinsp;Com]]<!-- High&thinsp;Com is officially written with a thin space - do not remove this --> (marketed since 1978), [[High&thinsp;Com&nbsp;II]], [[High&thinsp;Com&nbsp;III]], [[High&thinsp;Com&nbsp;FM]], and [[CX (audio)|CX]] (1982).

In 2005, Telefunken Sender Systeme Berlin changed its name to '''[[Transradio]] SenderSysteme Berlin AG'''. The name "Transradio" dates back to 1918, when Transradio was founded as a subsidiary of Telefunken. A year later, in 1919, Transradio made history by introducing duplex transmission. Transradio has specialized in research, development and design of modern [[AM broadcasting|AM]], [[Very high frequency|VHF]]/[[Frequency modulation|FM]] and [[Digital Radio Mondiale|DRM]] broadcasting systems.

In August 2006, it was acquired by the Turkish company [[Profilo|Profilo Telra]], one of the largest European manufacturers of TV-devices, with brand-owner ''Telefunken Licenses GmbH'' granting a license for the '''Telefunken''' trademark rights and producing televisions under that name.

==Business fields ==
The old Telefunken company had produced an extensive product spectrum of devices and systems from 1903 to 1996. Common characteristics are the authority for high frequency and communications technology and the construction unit and infrastructure technology necessary for it. Among other things:

* Energy-saving lighting technology
* Analogue computers
* Voucher recognition, pattern recognition and letter sorting
* [[Data communication]]s networks
* Digital computer for exchange technique, air traffic control, scientific, military applications
* Electrical elements
* Electro-acoustic plants and studio equipment
* Flight guidance systems
* Guidance and weapon deployment systems
* Radio and data communication for applications of military
* Radios for authority and operating radio
* Semiconductors, circuits, solar cells, infrared modules
* Mobile radio engineering
* Direction finder and detection
* Phono and tape decks, videodisc
* Power tools
* Radar facilities for soil, flight and ship monitoring
* Radio and TV home receivers
* Vacuum tubes
* Radio relay link and satellite technology
* Records
* Sending and receipt tubes, travelling field tubes, color image tubes
* Transmitters for broadcast and television, DAB transmitters
* Speech recognition
* Telephone, long-distance traffic, cable technology.

==Locations and manufacturing plants==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R26738, Kombinierter Fernseh- und Rundfunkempfänger.jpg|thumb|right|FE I &ndash; Telefunken's first Television set using CRT ({{Circa|1932}})<ref name=etf/>]]
Into the 1930s years, production was made after a distributor in the workshops of the two parent companies. The company headquarters was located in [[Kreuzberg|Berlin Kreuzberg]], Hallesches Ufer 30 (1918–1937).

The first commercially made electronic [[television set]]s with [[cathode-ray tube]]s were manufactured by Telefunken in Berlin in 1932.<ref name=etf>[http://www.earlytelevision.org/telefunken.html Telefunken], Early Electronic TV Gallery, Early Television Foundation.</ref><!-- COMMENT OUT: Verification failed due to lack of mention on 1st CRT model: <ref>[http://www.tvhistory.tv/1934-35-Telefunken-FEIII.JPG 1934–35 Telefunken], Television History: The First 75 Years.</ref> -->

Starting from 1938, manufacturing and developing plants were concentrated at the new headquarters (until 1945) in [[Zehlendorf (Berlin)|Berlin Zehlendorf]], Goerzallee.

During the Second World War, there were further manufacturing plants in the Berlin area, in [[Thuringia]], [[Saxony]], [[Moravia]], [[Silesia]], on [[Rügen]]. In addition, in Baltic countries at [[Tallinn]] and [[Riga]], and in occupied areas of Poland at [[Kraków]] and [[Łódź]], floats and works were established. The [[vacuum tube]] factory Łódź was shifted with the staff in August 1944 to [[Ulm]] ([[Fortress of Ulm|Fortress Wilhelmsburg]]).

After the Second World War, new firm locations for development and production were established. The company headquarters was located first in [[Berlin-Schöneberg]] (1945–1948), then in [[Berlin-Kreuzberg]] (1948–1952), [[Berlin-Moabit]] (1952–1960) and [[Berlin Charlottenburg]] (1960–1967).

Production plants were located in:
[[File:Telefunken Hannover.JPG|thumb|Hanover, Göttinger Chaussee 76: Administration building (1959/1960) of the former ''Telefunken Fernseh und Rundfunk GmbH'' (under [[Cultural heritage management]]), right next former ''Huth Apparatefabrik'' (1940/1941)]]
* [[Backnang]]: Long-distance communications and cable technology (now [[Tesat-Spacecom]])
* Berlin-[[Moabit]], Sickingenstr. 20–26: Broadcast and television transmitters, mobile communications (since 2005 Transradio SenderSysteme Berlin AG, later simply known as [[Transradio]])
* Berlin-Moabit, Sickingenstr. 71: Tubes (since 2005: JobCenter Berlin Mitte, employment agency)
* Berlin-[[Wedding (Berlin)|Wedding]] (current: [[Gesundbrunnen (Berlin)|Gesundbrunnen]]), Schwedenstr.: Broadcast sets, phono and tape decks, videocassette recorders, Videodisc players
* [[Celle]]: Color television sets (1966–1997), buildings completely demolished 2001/2002
* [[Nohfelden|Eiweiler]]: High-frequency engineering
* [[Hanover]], Göttinger Chaussee 76: Broadcast and television sets, acoustic engineering (until 1973)
* [[Heilbronn]]: Semiconductors, circuits, solar cells, infrared modules (1998&ndash;2008 [[Atmel]]; since 2009 {{ill|Telefunken Semiconductors{{!}}Telefunken Semiconductors GmbH & Co. KG|de|Telefunken Semiconductors}} (subsidiary of Tejas Silicon Holdings, UK; Insolvency of Telefunken Semiconductors in April 2013)
* [[Konstanz]]: Computer technology, letter sorting systems, character recognition technology, air traffic control systems, studio tape decks, cash dispensing machines
* [[Offenburg]]: Long-distance communications technologies
* [[Osterode am Harz]] (former Kuba-Imperial plant): Videocassette recorder
* [[Ulm]], Danube valley: Television picture tubes
* Ulm, Elisabethenstrasse: Radar, radiolocation, detection equipment, speech and radio data transmission systems, Research Centre (2000: [[Airbus|EADS]] Racoms &ndash; Radio Communication Systems; then Cassidian, part of EADS Defence & Security, today [[Airbus Defence and Space]], today [[Elbit Systems]])
* Ulm, Söflinger Strasse: Tubes
* [[Wolfenbüttel]]: Electroacoustics (from 1973 on)

==See also==
* [[Transistron]] (Duodiode) - [[parallel discovery]] of the [[bipolar transistor]] by [[Herbert F. Mataré]] and [[Heinrich Welker]] in 1948/1949

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* M. Friedewald: ''Telefunken und der deutsche Schiffsfunk 1903–1914''. In: ''Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte 46''. Nr. 1, 2001, S.&nbsp;27–57
* M. Fuchs: ''Georg von Arco (1869–1940) – Ingenieur, Pazifist, Technischer Direktor von Telefunken. Eine Erfinderbiographie''. Verlag für Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften und der Technik, Berlin & München: Diepholz 2003
* L. U. Scholl: ''Marconi versus Telefunken: Drahtlose Telegraphie und ihre Bedeutung für die Schiffahrt''. In: G. Bayerl, W. Weber (ed.): ''Sozialgeschichte der Technik. Ulrich Troitzsche zum 60. Geburtstag''. Waxmann, Münster 1997 (Cottbuser Studien zur Geschichte von Technik, Arbeit und Umwelt, 7)
* Telefunken Sendertechnik GmbH: ''90 Jahre Telefunken''. Berlin 1993
* Erdmann Thiele (ed.): ''Telefunken nach 100 Jahren – Das Erbe einer deutschen Weltmarke.'' Nicolaische Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin 2003, {{ISBN|3-87584-961-2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Telefunken}}
{{Portal|Technology|Companies}}
*{{Official website|http://www.telefunken.com/}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090123022115/http://telefunken.de/index.php?lang=en Telefunken]
*[https://www.telefunken-elektroakustik.com/ Telefunken Elektroakustik, formerly Telefunken USA]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061206131703/http://www.broadcast-transradio.com/ Transradio SenderSysteme Berlin AG]
*[http://www.telefunken-id-systems.com Telefunken ID Systems]
*[http://www.discogs.com/label/Telefunken Telefunken record discography]
*[https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/toni-fishman Toni Fishman Interview] at [[NAMM Oral History Program|NAMM Oral History Collection]] (2021)

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[[Category:AEG]]
[[Category:Avionics companies]]
[[Category:Clock brands]]
[[Category:Defunct mobile phone manufacturers]]
[[Category:Electronics companies of Germany]]
[[Category:German brands]]
[[Category:German record labels]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies based in Berlin]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1903]]
[[Category:Mobile phone manufacturers]]
[[Category:Radio manufacturers]]
[[Category:Microphone manufacturers]]