Compagnie de l'industrie électrique et mécanique

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Compagnie de l'industrie électrique
legal form
founding 1891
resolution 1918
Reason for dissolution Transformation in Sécheron
Seat Sécheron , SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland 
Branch Electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, automobile manufacturers

DC generator, ca.1897
DC locomotive on the La Mure Railway

The Compagnie de l'industrie électrique ( CIE ) from 1902 Compagnie de l'industrie électrique et mécanique ( ICES ) was a Swiss electrical engineering - and engineering company with headquarters in the district of Le Petit-Saconnex in Geneva , 1918 the Société Anonyme des Ateliers de Sécheron was converted. The CIEM was 1,904 to 1,913 manufacturers of automobiles of the brand Stella .

Company history

prehistory

In 1882 Alfred de Meuron and Hermann Cuénod founded the company A. De Meuron et Cuénod in Geneva for the production of electromechanical devices, a business area that was booming at the time. The company's chief engineer was René Thury , a pioneer in electrical engineering. Alfred de Meuron left the company in 1886 and turned to popular evangelism . Cuénod found the new business partner Ernest Sautter in 1887, so that the company became Cuénod, Sautter & Cie. has been.

Founded on 5 May 1883 Société d'appareillage électrique (SAE) mainly sold Edison - bulbs in Switzerland and operates its own power grids for lighting, such as in Geneva.

Compagnie de l'industrie électrique

In 1891, the SAE bought for 1.25 million francs the Cuénod, Sautter & Cie. and changes its own name to Compagnie de l'industrie électrique (CIE). The company is based in Sécheron, in what was then the municipality of Le Petit-Saconnex .

Initially, the company was exclusively active in the electrotechnical industry and achieved success with direct current generators, then called dynamos, and the construction of direct current transmission lines, with the Thury system being particularly successful. Lighting networks were also built for factories, public buildings, hotels and private homes. A special achievement was the construction of the Chemin de fer du Salève , the world's first electric rack railway.

The CIE was a leading company in its field until the early 1890s. Then business collapsed because the CIE failed to make the transition to the prevailing three-phase and alternating current system . Diversification into the mechanical engineering sector was seen as a way out, for which purpose the company name was changed to Compagnie de l'industrie électrique et mécanique (CIEM) in 1902 . The company started building cranes , elevators , winches , gasoline engines , motorcycles and cars . The cars came onto the market from 1904 under the corporate abbreviation CIEM , but from 1906 they carried the brand name Stella .

The main activity of the company remained in electrical engineering. In 1903, CIEM built the world's first locomotive for the La Mure Railway to run on high-voltage direct current. They used a double-pole contact line with +1200 V and −1200 V in the contact wires, so that 2400 V was available to operate the four traction motors. Although four more locomotives were built, these were in use until 1933, but the system did not catch on.

But despite these few successes, the financial situation of CIEM remains fragile and the company made losses from 1913, so that the car production was stopped again. The decision of the SBB to electrify its network in 1916 indicated a significant development in the electrotechnical industry. Some entrepreneurs decided to reorganize the CIEM facilities and the company in 1918. With the silent participation of the BBC, the Société Anonyme des Ateliers de Sécheron (SAAS) was founded in 1918 as a rescue company for the "Sécheron workshops" .

List of executed systems

A. De Meuron and Cuénod

Cuénod, Sautter & Cie.

Compagnie de l'industrie électrique (CIE)

Compagnie de l'industrie électrique et mécanique (CIEM)

cars

Brand name CIEM
Stella emblem

Under this brand name, vehicles with gasoline-electric drives were built between 1904 and 1906. The models on offer were 8 CV with a two-cylinder engine and 16/24 CV with a four-cylinder engine . The range was 50 km / h. In addition, even after 1906, there were trucks with wheel hub motors , which were offered as CIEM and CIEM-Stella .

Brand name Stella
Stella from 1911

Only vehicles with gasoline engines were offered under this brand name . The 6/12 CV model had a two-cylinder engine with a displacement of 2285 cm³ . In the 16/24 CV , a four-cylinder engine with a displacement of 4562 cm³ provided the drive. The 10 CV model followed in 1911, the engine of which had a displacement of 3000 cm³. With their round radiator grille, the vehicles resembled the models from Hotchkiss et Cie . A total of around 200 Stella automobiles were built.

literature

source

Web links

Commons : Compagnie de l'industrie électrique  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Compagnie de l'industrie électrique et mécanique  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Archives de la Ville de Genève (ed.): Compagnie de l'industrie électrique et mécanique . ( ville-ge.ch [PDF]).
  2. ↑ a b Archives de la Ville de Genève (Ed.): A. De. Meuron et Cuénod . ( ville-ge.ch [PDF]).
  3. ^ Bénédict Frommel: Ernest Sautter. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  4. ↑ Invitation to the Extraordinary General Meeting . In: Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce . 1st year, no. January 14 , 21, 1892 ( e-periodica.ch ).
  5. ^ Serge Paquier: Electrical industry. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  6. ↑ Le materiel moteur. In: Chemin de fer de La Mure. The European Railway Server, accessed December 2, 2019 .