Josef Schneider Sr. (29 May 1840 – 14 March 1927) was the first producer of electricity in Germany and founded the Elektrizitätswerk Horb.
In 1890 Josef Schneider was granted a patent by royal warrant from the King of Württemberg to become the first German electricity producer.
In 1892 Germany saw its first electric light with the help of a steam turbine developed by Josef Schneider Sr.
By 1912, he and Oskar von Miller were the first to connect eleven cities in the Stuttgart-Munich region to an electric grid using high-voltage lines.
In 2009 Schneider Power was acquired by Irvine California-based, Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc.