Funk Station Tragbare Sende-Empfangserät for Telegraphy and Telephony (k.u.k.) model K. ST. M.17. Year 1917

Funk Station Tragbare 40 Watt Kurzwellen Sende-Empfangserät für Telegrapie und Telefonie model 1917" or "Portable Field Radio Receiver-Transmitter Station for Telephony and Telegraphy, model K.ST. M.17" (Kleinen Stationen Model 1917), produced by Siemens&Halske of Vienna (System Telefunken) in 1917 for the Army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In 1917 the Oberkommando der K.u.K., realizing that the war would soon enter a crucial phase for the fate of the Empire, decided to quickly modernize the military technological systems used for radio communications, between the High Command and the line departments, believing that it could be one of the fundamental keys to the favorable outcome of the conflict. Until then, in fact, the army had cumbersome means of communication or those dependent on interconnected telephone and telegraph lines which, very often, were damaged or interrupted by daily war events.

It was deemed appropriate to equip some important departments with an innovative means of communication, which was easy to transport, simple to use, but above all small in size, so that it could be transported and used in those places where they were not present or it was impossible to install lines suitable for transmissions, thus facilitating the Military Commands in rapid and safe communication with departments in outposts and Alpine fronts located even at great distances and altitudes.

Thus it was that the Oberkommando der K.u.K. commissioned Siemens&Halske of Vienna to build the first portable Military Radio Transmitter, Telegraph and Telephone Station in the world: The K. ST. M.17.

Thus was born the small radio station made up of three devices: Wave Generator, Antenna Tuner and Receiver-Transmitter, light, compact and equipped with shoulder straps to facilitate transport: for this evident reason it is believed that it was intended precisely for those departments operating on the front line who frequently travel repeatedly.

This radio transformed the way of communicating by making it faster, simpler and safer, thanks to the "Wireless" technological innovation which allowed this device, equipped with a power of 40 W, to transmit or receive at distances of over 20 km.

Its original handset is present, also marked Siemens&Halske, perfectly preserved and stored in a special pocket inside the Empfänger.

Following the unfavorable outcome of the war, which saw the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, the cause of the very limited production of this Transceiver Radio Station followed: in fact this apparatus was produced for only one year in an irrelevant number of specimens.

Currently this transceiver radio station appears to be the only one known.

Object of exceptional historical and collectible value.

An identical, but largely incomplete, radio is published and described in "The Radio Bygones magazine June/July" in 1998.

In December 1846, Werner von Siemens wrote to his brother William: "I have now practically decided to undertake a career as a telegraph operator." The cornerstone of this career came from the idea of building a telegraph transmitter using a cigar box, tin, pieces of iron and some insulated copper wire. The device was far superior to devices in common use until then. At thirty years old, Siemens entrusted the construction of the telegraph to a mechanic named Johann Georg Halske, whom he knew from the "Physical Society", an association of ambitious young researchers.

Halske produced experimental apparatus for many well-known scientists of the time, as well as produced prototypes in the fields of precision mechanics, physics, optics and chemistry. Werner von Siemens managed to convince the skeptical Halske of the potential of his engineering projects. Accurate calculations, the volume of expected orders made Halske enthusiastic about the visionary ideas of the young officer with whom he decided to share the risks of a new company founded with the young Siemens in 1847.

Since individual telegraphs were hand made, there was no need to purchase large machines meaning that the amount of capital needed from the founders (none of whom had much money) was very little. Furthermore, Halske made his great experience available for the craft management and organization of a sales point or workshop, while Siemens contributed with his patents.

The initial capital of 6,842 thalers - just over 20,000 marks, was provided by his cousin Werner and Johann Georg Siemens, a magistrate and father of the co-founder of what would later be Deutsche Bank. Werner von Siemens, Johann Georg Halske and Johann Georg Siemens signed a collaboration agreement on 1 October 1847, the official date of foundation. Less than two weeks after signing the contract, the "Siemens & Halske Telegraph Construction Company" began doing business in a building behind a courtyard in Berlin on October 12, 1847.

Within a few years, the 10-person business grew dramatically and became an international "electronics" company. Siemens & Halske, in the following years, expanded the number of branches in other European countries. The company gained international recognition for successfully completing large-scale projects that were technically complex and greatly increased "business risk", such as the construction of the Indo-European telegraph line and the laying of the first cable direct transatlantic telegraph.

At the time of Werner von Siemens' death in 1892, his company was generating nearly 20 million marks in sales revenue; Siemens had employed 6,500 people worldwide, 1,725 of them outside Germany. The founder's personal goal was to "build a career" through telegraphy and as he later happened, "gain worldwide recognition as a man of science and as a technician. Werner von Siemens remains one of engineering's most important innovators electric today, and his pioneering spirit continues to shape Siemens.

Siemens&Halske AG was founded in 1897 when the former "Telegraphen-Bauanstalt Siemens&Halske" became a joint-stock company. When Siemens & Halske began a collaboration with Schuckert & Co in 1903 and founded Siemens-Schuckertwerke, Siemens & Halske AG specialized in communications engineering.