Kőbánya steam brickworks company
The Kőbánya Brickworks Company in Pest was one of the earliest established companies producing and selling building materials (bricks, roof tiles and flower pots). The company, which was owned by the Hungarian General Credit Bank, was founded in 1868. The economic boom of the 1880s and 1890s and the restructuring and modernisation of the company led to significant growth, including the expansion of its plants in Kőbánya and Rákos. After a general weakening in the 1900s, it lost more and more of its commercial markets in the 1910s. As a result, in 1916 it merged with another company and in 1926 it was absorbed into the Pest-based Kőszohlenbánya- und brickworks association.
The raw material for bricks as a finished building product is clay, mined from the surface of the earth. The raw material, first kneaded with water and then pressed, was produced by firing, during which the raw bricks lost their moisture and became solid.
Brick production took off in the second to third decade after the German Reunification, as a result of the second industrial revolution. Favourable economic conditions led to a significant building boom in the Hungarian capital and the capital and in larger cities. As the industrial revolution unfolded, brickworks were built to meet the growing social demand. In the south-eastern part of Budapest, the natural conditions were particularly favourable for brickworks.
The Kőbánya Brickworks Company in Pest was founded in 1868, in the interest of the Hungarian General Credit Bank. In 1869, it purchased the small brickworks in Kőbánya from the Weisz brothers, where it started brick production.
After the initial years of operation, the company was able to expand its market significantly in the 1880s. Sándor Bálint, who became a member of the board of directors of the company in 1877, reorganised the company with considerable organisational efforts, increased its size, modernised it and, through mechanisation, tripled its production capacity. In 1879, he bought the brickworks on Maglódi út from the Sugár-úti construction company and converted it. The brick boom, which started in 1880, enabled the company to make a number of investments. Among other things, it built a racecourse at the Kőbánya factory, acquired a herd of 14 horses and carriages and built stables for them. The company also bought new clay bricks and a new brick kiln, and built ten kilns at the quarry site.
In the 1890s, the company was able to make further improvements thanks to its profitable operation.In 1892, it acquired from the capital the land adjacent to the factory on Maglódi Road, on which it built a machine shop, circular furnaces and workers' housing. In 1894, he set up a factory in Rákos, in addition to the existing factory in Kőbánya. This development became really significant in the 1890s. The change in the exchange rate of the company and its profits is evidence of this.
The press also reported that in the 1910s the factory found it increasingly difficult to sell its products, and its operations declined significantly compared to previous decades. This was confirmed by the fall in the company's profits and its share price on the eve of the Great War. Whereas in the mid-1880s the company had managed to sell between 24 and 28 million bricks, between 1905 and 1908 this figure fell to between 16 and 17 million. The 40,5 million bricks sold in 1911 were the maximum, which the company was unable to surpass. Its dwindling capacity is confirmed by the fact that after 1911 the compasses no longer indicated the quantity of bricks sold.
Sándor Bálint, who headed the company for nearly thirty-five years, died in 1915. In 1916 the company merged with the Budapest Brick and Lime Kiln Company Limited. At the same time, the company started to produce Muschong roof tiles at its factory in Óbuda. The weakening of the company is explained by the fact that in 1916 it sold 8,000 square hectares of the brickworks site to the Metal and Lamp Factory for 400,000 crowns. The company's difficult economic situation in the years following the First World War is reflected in the fact that it was sold to other interests every few years. While in 1918-1919 it was owned by the Hungarian Bank and Commercial Joint Stock Company, in 1920-1921 it was owned by the Anglo-Hungarian Bank Joint Stock Company and Simon Krausz of Érd, who held a significant position in it.
In the long run, however, the merger has not been able to remedy the company's increasingly weakening sales prospects. During these years, the company successfully exported its products abroad (Balkans, Austria). In 1925, even the press reported that the factory was 'working on a reduced scale' and hoped that the brick business, which was transported to Greece (Thessaloniki) by rail, would be profitable for the company in the long term. As an independent company, however, the company was no longer able to achieve this, as after a long agony it was merged into the Brickworks Company of Kőszénbánya on 20 July 1926.
Sources
Hungarian Financial Compass 1917-1926.
Great Hungarian Compass 1879-1916.
Press material 1868-1926.
Date of foundation: 1868
Date of cessation: 1926
Founders are not set
Securities issued:
| Kőbánya steam brickworks company |
Decisive leaders:
1879-1905 | Sándor Bálint |
1906-1909 | Zsigmond B. Geiger |
1910-1913 | Elek Pál Malomsegi |
1914-1915 | Károly Bachrauch |
1916-1917 | Gyula Deutsch |
1918-1926 | Simon Krausz from Szeged |
Main activity: manufacture and sale of bricks, roof tiles and flower pots
Main products:
notched and beaver-tailed roof tiles, wall bricks, cross-sectional coloured and yellow decorative bricks, dry-pressed decorative and pillar bricks, attic, kitchen and chimney bricks, handmade mud-brick pillars and roofing tiles, flower pots |
Seats are not configured
Locations are not set
Main milestones are not set
Author: Róbert Szabó
Date of foundation: 1868
Founders are not set
Decisive leaders:
1879-1905 | Sándor Bálint |
1906-1909 | Zsigmond B. Geiger |
1910-1913 | Elek Pál Malomsegi |
1914-1915 | Károly Bachrauch |
1916-1917 | Gyula Deutsch |
1918-1926 | Simon Krausz from Szeged |
Main activity: manufacture and sale of bricks, roof tiles and flower pots
Main products:
notched and beaver-tailed roof tiles, wall bricks, cross-sectional coloured and yellow decorative bricks, dry-pressed decorative and pillar bricks, attic, kitchen and chimney bricks, handmade mud-brick pillars and roofing tiles, flower pots |
Seats are not configured
Locations are not set
Main milestones are not set
Author: Róbert Szabó
Kőbánya steam brickworks company
The Kőbánya Brickworks Company in Pest was one of the earliest established companies producing and selling building materials (bricks, roof tiles and flower pots). The company, which was owned by the Hungarian General Credit Bank, was founded in 1868. The economic boom of the 1880s and 1890s and the restructuring and modernisation of the company led to significant growth, including the expansion of its plants in Kőbánya and Rákos. After a general weakening in the 1900s, it lost more and more of its commercial markets in the 1910s. As a result, in 1916 it merged with another company and in 1926 it was absorbed into the Pest-based Kőszohlenbánya- und brickworks association.
The raw material for bricks as a finished building product is clay, mined from the surface of the earth. The raw material, first kneaded with water and then pressed, was produced by firing, during which the raw bricks lost their moisture and became solid.
Brick production took off in the second to third decade after the German Reunification, as a result of the second industrial revolution. Favourable economic conditions led to a significant building boom in the Hungarian capital and the capital and in larger cities. As the industrial revolution unfolded, brickworks were built to meet the growing social demand. In the south-eastern part of Budapest, the natural conditions were particularly favourable for brickworks.
The Kőbánya Brickworks Company in Pest was founded in 1868, in the interest of the Hungarian General Credit Bank. In 1869, it purchased the small brickworks in Kőbánya from the Weisz brothers, where it started brick production.
After the initial years of operation, the company was able to expand its market significantly in the 1880s. Sándor Bálint, who became a member of the board of directors of the company in 1877, reorganised the company with considerable organisational efforts, increased its size, modernised it and, through mechanisation, tripled its production capacity. In 1879, he bought the brickworks on Maglódi út from the Sugár-úti construction company and converted it. The brick boom, which started in 1880, enabled the company to make a number of investments. Among other things, it built a racecourse at the Kőbánya factory, acquired a herd of 14 horses and carriages and built stables for them. The company also bought new clay bricks and a new brick kiln, and built ten kilns at the quarry site.
In the 1890s, the company was able to make further improvements thanks to its profitable operation.In 1892, it acquired from the capital the land adjacent to the factory on Maglódi Road, on which it built a machine shop, circular furnaces and workers' housing. In 1894, he set up a factory in Rákos, in addition to the existing factory in Kőbánya. This development became really significant in the 1890s. The change in the exchange rate of the company and its profits is evidence of this.
The press also reported that in the 1910s the factory found it increasingly difficult to sell its products, and its operations declined significantly compared to previous decades. This was confirmed by the fall in the company's profits and its share price on the eve of the Great War. Whereas in the mid-1880s the company had managed to sell between 24 and 28 million bricks, between 1905 and 1908 this figure fell to between 16 and 17 million. The 40,5 million bricks sold in 1911 were the maximum, which the company was unable to surpass. Its dwindling capacity is confirmed by the fact that after 1911 the compasses no longer indicated the quantity of bricks sold.
Sándor Bálint, who headed the company for nearly thirty-five years, died in 1915. In 1916 the company merged with the Budapest Brick and Lime Kiln Company Limited. At the same time, the company started to produce Muschong roof tiles at its factory in Óbuda. The weakening of the company is explained by the fact that in 1916 it sold 8,000 square hectares of the brickworks site to the Metal and Lamp Factory for 400,000 crowns. The company's difficult economic situation in the years following the First World War is reflected in the fact that it was sold to other interests every few years. While in 1918-1919 it was owned by the Hungarian Bank and Commercial Joint Stock Company, in 1920-1921 it was owned by the Anglo-Hungarian Bank Joint Stock Company and Simon Krausz of Érd, who held a significant position in it.
In the long run, however, the merger has not been able to remedy the company's increasingly weakening sales prospects. During these years, the company successfully exported its products abroad (Balkans, Austria). In 1925, even the press reported that the factory was 'working on a reduced scale' and hoped that the brick business, which was transported to Greece (Thessaloniki) by rail, would be profitable for the company in the long term. As an independent company, however, the company was no longer able to achieve this, as after a long agony it was merged into the Brickworks Company of Kőszénbánya on 20 July 1926.
Sources
Hungarian Financial Compass 1917-1926.
Great Hungarian Compass 1879-1916.
Press material 1868-1926.