When the company Siemens-Elema AB closed down its operations in Solna and Sundbyberg in 2003/2004, a number of former employees took the initiative to form a staff association. The guiding idea was to create a way for former colleagues to keep meeting and taking part in activities together. The club would also preserve the company’s history. And so it happened: the ELEMA Club was formed on the 11th of November 2004, with just over 200 members from the start. The first board consisted of Christer Sommar as chairperson, Karin Skarnäs as treasurer, Inger Holmström as secretary, and Roland Johansson and Helge Leiner as ordinary board members. In its early years, the club received an annual contribution from Siemens AB.
Autumn Parties and Study Visits
The board understood that if as many people as possible were to gather at the same time, it should be an annual autumn party in a large enough venue. The choice fell on the then Bällstabro Inn in Sundbyberg. And so it was – many members came to meet their former colleagues, enjoy good food and drink, and take a turn or two on the dance floor to live music. The autumn parties were eagerly anticipated, but unfortunately could not be held during the years Sweden was affected by the Covid pandemic.
But it wasn’t all about parties – the club’s board wanted other things too. As examples of events arranged to bring interested members together, several study visits were organised. These included visits to the old work premises at Stenhöga, a genealogy study circle, a study visit to the Käppala sewage treatment plant on Lidingö, the Görväln water treatment plant in Järfälla, a visit to the Stockholm City Museum, the Museum of Medical History in Uppsala, the Pressbyrån museum, Filmstaden in Råsunda, Olle Olsson’s house in Hagalund, CPR training, Pythagoras’ former workshop in Norrtälje, Rörstrand Castle, the Tramway Museum, and St Jude Medical in Järfälla with its pacemaker manufacturing and development. The club also arranged early-morning bird walks (“gökotta”) in Vasaparken and bird-watching on a couple of occasions. We also got to hear interesting talks in connection with the annual meetings.
Winding Down the Club
An organisation of the kind the ELEMA Club was can function for as long as it has members. But over time, for natural reasons, those members become fewer, and eventually a point is reached where the organisation should be wound down.
Here is how membership developed over the years: in 2008 we had 235 members, 2014: 179, 2018: 163, 2019: 138, 2021: 101, 2022: 96, 2023: 77. The club had, in the end, reached a point where a decision on dissolution needed to be made.
At the members’ meeting in March 2023, the board proposed a decision on dissolution. However, by a very narrow majority, it was decided that the club should continue for the time being. At the members’ meeting in September 2023, though, a unanimous decision was made to dissolve the club during 2024. It was decided that the club’s remaining funds and collections would be transferred to Sundbyberg Museum. A winding-up board was appointed to manage the dissolution process.
The Company’s History
In telling the story of the people who worked at this company, it seems fitting for the club to also share a little of the company’s own history.
AB John Andersson began operations in 1890, based at David Bagares gata 7 in Stockholm. In 1898 it was reorganised and renamed AB John Andersson Elektrotekniska Byrå, at that time located on Klarabergsgatan 58. Among other things, the company manufactured lightning conductors.
In 1902 it was time for another reorganisation and a new name: AB John Andersson Elektrotekniska Eftr.
In 1914 the company moved to Sundbyberg, to an address on Vasagatan 7.
In 1917 the company Järnhs El. AB was formed and based itself in a property at Fabriksgatan 1 in Sundbyberg. The company was profitable enough that in 1935 it was able to move into its own property at Industrivägen 23 in Hagalund/Solna.
In 1940 Järnhs acquired the firm Universitets Instrumentmakeri, based in Lund. As a result of that acquisition, our perhaps most well-known colleague, Dr Rune Elmqvist, joined the company.
In 1946 the company ELEMA, Elektromedicinska Apparater (Electromedical Apparatus), was incorporated. They had a German sales agency that suited Järnhs’ direction well. ELEMA itself had begun operations in Gothenburg in 1917.
Järnhs also acquired another company, KIFA – Kirurgiska Instrumentfabriksaktiebolaget (the Surgical Instrument Factory Company) – which had been founded in 1911. Its product catalogue included an operating table as well as surgical instruments.
In 1952 it was time for Järnhs to change its company name again, becoming ELEMA-JÄRNH-KIFA AB. But there were several other companies manufacturing in the medical-technology field at the time.
Georg Schönander AB was located on Sjöbjörnsvägen in Gröndal. Among other things, it manufactured X-ray equipment, chiefly an X-ray stand for skull examinations, complemented by a sheet-film changer designated AOT. The company also had its own glassblowing workshop for manufacturing X-ray tubes, as well as making the collimators that shaped the X-ray beams so the resulting image was easy to interpret. Schönander had begun manufacturing in 1921, initially at Kungsbroplan 3 in Stockholm, later at Upplandsgatan 78.
In 1955 it was time for another name change, becoming Elema-Schönander AB, with Järnhs as the manufacturing company.
In 1958 the first pacemaker, designed by Dr Rune Elmqvist, was implanted.
In 1959 came another acquisition, as Svenska Hörapparataktiebolaget (the Swedish Hearing Aid Company) joined the group. That company had been founded in 1943 and was based at Majorsgatan 17 in Stockholm, later at Kungsgatan 29.
The successful Swedish company group attracted the interest of the German company Siemens AG, which at the time had a large medical-technology manufacturing operation. In 1959 Siemens AG bought Elema-Schönander AB, which by then had become, to put it mildly, cramped for space. At Industrivägen 23 the building had been extended and added to on several occasions. It was now high time to find larger premises, and the company duly bought the Stenhöga site on the boundary between Solna and Sundbyberg.
In 1972 the new property was ready for occupation: an office building, a factory building, and later also an automated high-bay warehouse. The new address became Röntgenvägen 2 in Solna.
In 1994 the company’s pacemaker division was sold to the American group Pacesetter. Pacemaker manufacturing and development, based in Järfälla, was given the name Pacesetter AB. Shortly afterward, the name was changed to St Jude Medical AB. The now American-owned company moved its entire operation to Veddesta in 1997, where a new building with a cleanroom was constructed for production. In 2012, St Jude Medical ended all operations in Veddesta.
Some time after that sale came the next spin-off, when Siemens-Elema sold its ventilator business to the Swedish Getinge group in 2003. That part of the business was renamed Maquet Critical Care.
In 2003 Siemens moved X-ray equipment manufacturing out to Germany and Spain. Little was left in Sweden after that, and extensive staff reductions followed, in most cases handled through severance packages. Feelings of disappointment, anger and grief were, of course, felt by everyone who lost their job. This was the time when the idea of a colleagues’ club – the club that would become the ELEMA Club – began to take shape.
Many well-known and dedicated colleagues have passed through the company over the years – none named, none forgotten. The company traditionally worked closely with doctors from Sweden’s leading hospitals.
Products
Among the products developed and manufactured, the following are worth mentioning:
The pacemaker. The first pacemaker was designed and implanted in 1958. Today, more than 3 million heart patients worldwide are able to live good lives thanks to the pacemaker.
ECG and EEG machines with their distinctive ink-jet galvanometers (Dr Rune Elmqvist). The company’s development of mingograph technology led to direct-writing electrocardiographs with a frequency response at least as good as the older photographic ones. In the ECG field, measurement systems for use in cardiac catheterisation and monitoring were also developed.
The Servo Ventilator. A revolutionary respirator that introduced a number of advanced technologies for intensive care and anaesthesia. The Servo Ventilators could automatically adapt to a patient’s own breathing, and could also ventilate small children. The device was of invaluable help in saving the lives of many patients during the Covid-19 pandemic, which lasted from December 2019 to April 2023.
In the field of X-ray equipment, notable products include the AOT sheet-film changer and the flexible Mimer X-ray stand, as well as a simpler but more flexible design, the Orbix X-ray machine, mainly intended for skeletal imaging, which became standard equipment in hospital accident and emergency departments. In mobile X-ray equipment, the company developed the first battery-powered mobile X-ray machine, Mobil XR, based entirely on high-frequency technology and microcomputer control.
The ELEMA Club Was Wound Down After 20 Years, 2024–2025
The club’s bank account was closed on the 6th of May 2025. On the 5th of June 2025, the Swedish Tax Agency confirmed that the ELEMA Club’s organisation number had been deregistered, in accordance with the decision made at the members’ meeting.
The club’s website was taken down on 2025-09-25. Its material has been preserved as files held by Sundbyberg Museum, and documents and equipment are also stored at the museum.