Carl Hochenegg is closely associated with the installation of electric street lighting by means of arc lamps in Vienna, the electric operation of streetcars in Vienna, as well as the subway in Budapest and the Triest-Opicina mountain railroad.
After completing his studies, he joined Siemens&Halske in Vienna in 1883, and in April 1884 Hochenegg was appointed to Berlin by Werner Siemens. At the end of 1884 he returned to Vienna and was appointed deputy director in charge of Siemens’ Vienna department for electric railroads and central stations.
He used the experience he had gained in this position to write safety regulations for electrical power installations for the Electrotechnical Association in Vienna and to publish a work on “Arrangement and Dimensioning of Electrical Lines”.
In 1899, Hochenegg switched from business to teaching and accepted a call to the Vienna University of Technology. Hochenegg’s professorship in electrical engineering was the first and for a long time the only one in the entire monarchy.