Werner Siemens, German inventor, engineer, and entrepreneur was born on December 13, 1816, in Lenthe near Hanover, Lower Saxony, as the fourth child of fourteen children. His father was a tenant farmer. Siemens's education was first undertaken by his grandmother Deichmann, and it continued under a series of home tutors. In 1823 the family moved to Mecklenburg where the father took over the running of the estate of Menzendorf. From Easter 1832 until Easter 1834, Siemens attended the Katharineum, a gymnasium (secondary school) in the Hanseatic town of Lübeck, which he left without final examination. Because his interests were mathematics and natural sciences, rather than classical languages, he took some private lessons in mathematics to improve his education.

The family's precarious financial situation prompted Siemens to choose a military career as a way to advance his education in mathematics, physics and chemistry. In 1835 after...