C. Lorenz AG
C. Lorenz AG was a German electrical and electronics manufacturer known for telecommunications, radio, aviation-navigation, radar, and secure communications equipment.
Last updated October 14, 2026
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Overview
C. Lorenz AG was a German electrical and electronics company that operated from 1880 until its absorption into Standard Elektrik Lorenz in 1958. Founded in Berlin by Carl Lorenz as a workshop making electrical lighting equipment, the business entered telegraphy in 1880 and developed into a major supplier of communications technology for German postal, railway, commercial, and military customers. Its activities eventually covered electric lighting, telegraph and telephone equipment, typewriters and teleprinters, radio transmitters and receivers, vacuum tubes, aircraft communications, radio-navigation systems, radar, and cipher equipment. After Carl Lorenz died, textile businessman Robert Held acquired the firm in 1890 while retaining its established name. Held appointed Carl’s brother Alfred Lorenz as technical director and expanded the company’s industrial and public-sector business. The firm entered telephony in 1893 through the acquisition of Lewart, gaining a stronger position as a supplier to the German postal service. Typewriters were added in 1898, and branches were established in several German cities. In 1906 the company became a publicly traded Aktiengesellschaft under the name C. Lorenz AG. By the beginning of the First World War, Lorenz employed approximately 3,000 people and supplied the German military with wired telephone and telegraph equipment. It also entered wireless communications and built a substantial factory in Berlin’s Tempelhof district. After the war, the company contracted sharply and redirected much of its business toward civilian and commercial technology. Its postwar portfolio included home radios, broadcasting transmitters, aircraft communication systems, radio valves, and related components. Lorenz participated in the development of German radio broadcasting in 1919 and introduced its first home receiver, the Liebhaber-Empfänger, in 1923. During the 1920s it became one of Telefunken’s principal competitors in radio and vacuum-tube products. The company’s technical work also produced important aviation and communications technologies. In 1932, Lorenz engineers developed the Lorenz beam, a radio-navigation system that provided directional guidance and supported blind landing. The company patented a ferrite antenna in 1935, a technology that became widely used in domestic radio receivers. Lorenz also researched pulse-based radio detection during the 1930s and later produced military radar systems, including the Tiefentwiel, Jagdwagen, and Hohentwiel families. Its teleprinter expertise contributed to the Lorenz cipher machine, a highly secure rotor-based system used by German military command networks during the Second World War. The company was increasingly involved in German rearmament during the 1930s and the Second World War. It manufactured radio tubes, communications sets, radar, aircraft equipment, wire recorders, and cipher devices. In 1940 it acquired G. Schaub Apparatebau-Gesellschaft, whose facilities supported lower-cost radio production. Lorenz also held a substantial stake in aircraft manufacturer Focke-Wulf. Wartime production expanded to roughly 24,000 workers across twelve sites, and the company used forced labor from Nazi-operated labor camps, including a women's camp associated with Buchenwald near its Mühlhausen vacuum-tube facility. After 1945, Lorenz was rebuilt under difficult conditions. Some facilities were closed or transferred to the Soviet Union, while the headquarters moved to Stuttgart’s Zuffenhausen district. During the 1950s, the business recovered through a network of specialized sites producing radio and television equipment, valves, electrical machines, broadcasting systems, signal equipment, small transmitters, and telex products. From 1954, its consumer radio and television products were marketed under the Schaub-Lorenz name. C. Lorenz AG ceased to exist as an independent company in 1958, when ITT combined it with Standard Elektrizitätsgesellschaft and other German holdings to form Standard Elektrik Lorenz. SEL later became part of the Alcatel group, and former Lorenz operations were subsequently reorganized and sold.
History
Carl Lorenz opened an electrical-lighting workshop in Berlin around 1870. In 1880 the business entered telegraphy and adopted the name C. Lorenz Telegraphenbauanstalt. Following Lorenz’s death in 1889, Robert Held purchased the enterprise in 1890. Held preserved the established name and installed Alfred Lorenz, Carl’s brother, as technical director. The company became a significant supplier of telegraph and signaling equipment to the German railway system and expanded into telephony in 1893 through the acquisition of Lewart. This transaction strengthened its role as a supplier to the German postal service. Typewriters joined the portfolio in 1898, and branches were established in several German cities. The company became C. Lorenz AG and entered public trading in 1906. By the outbreak of the First World War it employed approximately 3,000 people and supplied military telephone and telegraph equipment. Wireless communications were added to its activities, and a large factory was constructed in Berlin’s Tempelhof district. After the war, the company reduced its scale and shifted toward civilian electronics, including radio receivers, broadcasting transmitters, aircraft communication equipment, and vacuum tubes. In 1919 it conducted pioneering German broadcasting transmissions, and in 1923 it released the Liebhaber-Empfänger, an early domestic receiver. Radio products and valves became central to the business during the 1920s, when Lorenz competed directly with Telefunken. After Robert Held’s death, control of the company changed hands. In 1930 Standard Elektrizitätsgesellschaft, owned by the American ITT corporation, acquired the controlling shareholding. Lorenz remained operationally distinct for the time being. The company's research produced the Lorenz beam, an aircraft radio-navigation and blind-landing system developed during the early 1930s and sold internationally. In 1935 Lorenz patented a ferrite antenna that later became common in household radio receivers. The company also pursued radio-based detection technology and developed military radar systems during the late 1930s and the war. Lorenz’s relationship with the German state became especially significant during rearmament and the Second World War. It manufactured radio tubes, military communications equipment, airborne and ground radar, wire recorders, and other defense electronics. In 1940 it acquired G. Schaub Apparatebau-Gesellschaft, using its facilities for large-scale, lower-cost production. Lorenz owned 25 percent of Focke-Wulf, an aircraft manufacturer supplying the Luftwaffe. Among its wartime technologies were the Tiefentwiel and Jagdwagen radar systems, the airborne and submarine Hohentwiel radar, and the Lorenz cipher machine. The latter was used for high-level German command communications, with the SZ42A entering service in 1943 and the SZ42B in 1944. Wartime growth involved a serious human-rights legacy. At its peak Lorenz employed approximately 24,000 people across twelve facilities, including sites in Berlin, Plauen, Mühlhausen, and underground production locations near Hanover. The company used forced labor from Nazi-operated camps, and a women's forced-labor camp connected with Buchenwald was located outside the Mühlhausen vacuum-tube factory. This history places Lorenz within the broader system of industrial exploitation that supported Nazi Germany's war economy. The company restarted in 1948. Several plants had been closed, dismantled, or taken over in the Soviet-occupied zone, while the headquarters moved to Stuttgart. During the 1950s Lorenz rebuilt a diversified German production network. Berlin-Tempelhof supported communications and broadcasting research; Esslingen produced radio tubes; Landshut manufactured electrical machines, broadcasting equipment, and signal systems; Pforzheim facilities produced small transmitters and telex equipment; and Schaub operations manufactured domestic radios and televisions. In 1954 those consumer products were branded Schaub-Lorenz. C. Lorenz AG ended as an independent legal and operating entity in 1958. ITT merged it with Standard Elektrizitätsgesellschaft and other German companies to create Standard Elektrik Lorenz, commonly abbreviated SEL. SEL later became connected with the French Compagnie Générale d'Electricité and Alcatel in the 1987 merger that created the Alcatel group. The former Lorenz businesses were subsequently reorganized, with some operations ultimately transferred to Nokia-Graetz GmbH. The original C. Lorenz AG therefore survives primarily as a historical name associated with German telecommunications and electronics engineering.
- 1987
SEL became part of the Alcatel group
[1]Standard Elektrik Lorenz was incorporated into the wider Alcatel combination involving Compagnie Générale d'Electricité.
- 1958
Merged into Standard Elektrik Lorenz
[1]C. Lorenz AG ceased independent operations after ITT combined it with Standard Elektrizitätsgesellschaft and other German holdings.
- 1954
Schaub-Lorenz brand introduced
[1]Lorenz changed the brand name used on its radio and television receivers to Schaub-Lorenz.
- 1942
Hohentwiel radar entered production
[1]The FuG 200 Hohentwiel radar was put into production for aircraft and maritime reconnaissance applications.
- 1940
Schaub acquired
[1]Lorenz acquired G. Schaub Apparatebau-Gesellschaft and used its factories for lower-cost radio production.
- 1935
Ferrite antenna patented
[1]Lorenz patented a ferrite antenna later used widely in domestic radio receivers.
- 1932
Lorenz beam developed
[1]Lorenz developed a directional aircraft-navigation and blind-landing system that was sold internationally.
- 1930
ITT gained control
[1]ITT subsidiary Standard Elektrizitätsgesellschaft acquired the controlling shareholding.
- 1923
Liebhaber-Empfänger launched
[1]Lorenz introduced its first home radio receiver.
- 1919
Early German radio broadcasting
[1]Lorenz used a high-power transmitter at Eberswalde in experimental voice and music broadcasting.
Products and positioning
A technically ambitious German communications and electronics manufacturer whose business moved from telegraphy and telephony into radio, broadcasting, aviation navigation, radar, secure communications, and consumer electronics. Its market position combined industrial engineering, government and military contracts, and mass-market radio and television production.
Telecommunications equipment · 1880
Telegraph and telephone equipment
Telegraphy was Lorenz's defining early business. The company supplied signaling equipment for railways and entered telephone manufacturing through its acquisition of Lewart in 1893. These products supported public postal networks, railway communications, and government customers, establishing the engineering and procurement base from which Lorenz expanded into wireless and electronic communications.
Consumer electronics · 1923
Domestic radio receivers
Lorenz developed household radio receivers after the First World War, beginning with the Liebhaber-Empfänger in 1923. Radio sets became a major product category during the 1920s and 1930s. In cooperation with Schaub, Lorenz also marketed inexpensive receivers such as the DKE-38, while later consumer products were sold under the Schaub-Lorenz name.
Broadcasting equipment · 1906
Broadcast transmitters
Lorenz used arc transmitters and other high-power radio equipment in experimental broadcasting and supplied transmitters used by early German broadcast stations. Its broadcasting activity connected the company's industrial communications expertise with the rapidly developing consumer-radio market.
Aircraft navigation · 1932
Lorenz beam
The Lorenz beam was a radio-navigation system that used overlapping directional signals to guide aircraft along a defined course. Its dot-dash audio pattern produced a continuous tone when an aircraft was aligned with the beam. The system was marketed internationally and adapted for blind landing and military aviation guidance.
Radar · 1942
FuG 200 Hohentwiel
Hohentwiel was a wartime radar family developed after German engineers examined a recovered British air-to-surface radar. The system could detect ships, submarines, aircraft, and some land features. An adaptation known as Hohentwiel-U was produced for submarine use, while the main system was used on reconnaissance aircraft.
Secure communications · 1940
Lorenz cipher machines
Lorenz's teleprinter expertise led to the Schlüsselzusatz, an in-line cipher attachment for high-security radio teleprinter communications. The SZ40 was introduced experimentally in 1940, followed by SZ42A and SZ42B versions used for high-level German military communications during the Second World War.
Consumer electronics · 1954
Schaub-Lorenz televisions and radios
After Lorenz acquired Schaub, the combined consumer-electronics identity became Schaub-Lorenz in 1954. The line covered domestic radio and television receivers and represented the company's postwar effort to rebuild around civilian household electronics alongside industrial and communications products.
Controversies
1940
Forced labor during the Second World War
Lorenz expanded military production under Nazi Germany and used forced labor from Nazi-operated labor camps. A women's forced-labor camp associated with Buchenwald was located beside the company's Mühlhausen vacuum-tube facility.
1939
Wartime and Nazi-era corporate ties
Lorenz was a major supplier of German military communications and electronics during the Nazi period. Historical accounts have also discussed alleged links between its parent company ITT and the Nazi Party, although the precise corporate and political relationships require careful source-specific treatment.
Brand decisions
1958
Merger into Standard Elektrik LorenzM&ABackground
ITT reorganized its German companies to consolidate Lorenz, Standard Elektrizitätsgesellschaft, and several smaller holdings.
Action taken
C. Lorenz AG ceased to operate as an independent company and became part of the newly created Standard Elektrik Lorenz.
Aftermath
SEL later entered the Alcatel group, while former Lorenz activities were subsequently reorganized and partly sold.
1954
Consumer products rebranded as Schaub-LorenzStrategyBackground
After the acquisition of G. Schaub Apparatebau-Gesellschaft, Lorenz operated a significant consumer radio and television business.
Action taken
The company adopted the Schaub-Lorenz name for its radio and television sets.
Aftermath
The Schaub-Lorenz identity continued in consumer electronics after C. Lorenz AG itself was merged into SEL.
1930
ITT took control through Standard ElektrizitätsgesellschaftM&ABackground
Following the death of Robert Held, controlling shares became available and were acquired by Standard Elektrizitätsgesellschaft, an ITT subsidiary.
Action taken
ITT left Lorenz operating under its established identity while integrating it into its German industrial holdings.
Aftermath
Lorenz remained an important communications and electronics business until its later merger into SEL.
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