Hungarian electricity ltd
The Hungarian Electricity Joint-Stock Company was founded in 1893 by the Hungarian Calculation and Exchange Bank, the Union Bank of Vienna and the Ganz factory in Hungary with a share capital of 3 million crowns. The company was one of the domestic companies that won a concession from the capital in 1892 to supply Budapest with electricity. After years of development, the company fell victim to the public utility system, which was bought by the capital in 1914, and was liquidated at the beginning of 1915.
The first electric lighting in Hungary dates back to 1878, when the iron foundry of Ganz and Company and Ganz Street were lit by electricity for the first time. However, it was not until 1893 that public lighting began to be used in the capital: the reason for this was that in 1879 the capital city of Budapest signed a contract with the Allgemeine Österreichische Gasgesellschaft, which was the only company to win a concession for the provision of electric lighting. This contract was only cancelled in 1891, which also gave the capital back the right to establish its own supervision of the city's electricity supply through contractors. By the 1890s, the solution to this problem had become a matter of real urgency, given the significant increase in demand for electricity.
The Hungarian Electricity Joint Stock Company was founded almost at the same time as the Budapest General Electricity Joint Stock Company, in 1893. Its creation was due to the fact that, together with the Budapest General Electricity Company, it won the concession tendered by the Budapest administration to supply the capital with electricity. However, the contract gave the capital the right to set up its own electricity generation plants and provided that after 45 years the plants of the two companies would become the property of Budapest free of charge. Under the concession, Magyar Villamossági Részvénytársaság was responsible for the production of alternating current. The company set up its generating plant in the area bounded by Váci út, Tisza utca, Visegrádi utca and Dráva utca under a contract with the capital using a transformer invented by Károly Zipernovszky, Miksa Déri and Ottó Bláthy. In the twenty years of its existence, the company has grown considerably. As early as 1894, it had branches in Pécs, Eger and Fiume. In January 1908, the Eger plant was replaced by the town of Eger, which was a town with an ordinary council, and the Fiume plant by the town of Fiume. Thus, by 1910, the company only managed the Budapest electricity generating plant. As technical conditions improved, including the modernisation of heating technology and the installation of more modern machinery, the company was able to make significant progress. This development was particularly marked in the first years after the turn of the century.
The growing demand for electricity is shown by the fact that while in the year after the company was founded only 100 km of cables were laid, by 1912 this had risen to over 250 km.
In the last years of its existence, the company experimented with electric street lighting, as did the Budapest General Electricity Company. As an experiment, Ganz electric alternating current arc lamps were installed on Szent István körút in 1911. In the same year, the company continued to install arc lamps on Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út, Károly körút and Múzeum körút.
From 1912, Budapest, as the capital and seat of the city, already had the right to redeem entire industrial estates. In this respect, attention was turned to the Hungarian Electricity Joint Stock Company. According to the Pesti Napló, the only reason why the capital decided to redeem the company's plant was that the constant breakdowns in the plant had given evidence of poorly functioning cables and plants, so that it could be assumed that the joint-stock company's plant "is the minimum value." This is contradicted by the change in the share price of the company. This leads us to the assumption that the Pesti Napló deliberately wrote the article in order to devalue the company's plant.
The scandals surrounding the public limited company were most often understood by the newspaper as blackouts lasting a few hours or half a day. The paper expressed its disapproval of the company in January 1912, when the lights went out for three hours. According to the paper, "this company has become a system of constant confusion and clumsy haste", so he proposed that the capital take tougher action against the irresponsible company in order to "greater caution and conscientiousness" force it. According to the paper, if the civil population does not turn against the joint stock company after such an incident, such disruptions are still expected to occur. In order for the capital to put economic pressure on the company, Budapest's management has set up a power generating plant owned by the capital. In August 1912, this led to the construction of the Kelenföld Power Generating Station, which began supplying electricity in 1914. By creating a competitor, the capital succeeded in driving down prices, which directly contributed to the liquidation of the private company. It was therefore expected that Budapest would exercise this right in 1914. At the beginning of the year, the press reported that the Hungarian Electricity Corporation was doing everything in its power to maintain a profitable business. To this end, the company proposed to merge the electricity generating plants of the joint-stock company and the capital so that 51% of the shares would be held by the capital.
Although the press reported that this was an excellent opportunity for Budapest, the capital remained adamant and the takeover took place on 1 June 1914. The company was declared liquidated on 16 February 1915.
Sources
János Bertalan:The first century of electric lighting. Budapest, 1978. XVI(6), 30-32.
Lilly Kozma: The first 25 years of Budapest's electricity service. The first 25 years of Budapest's first electricity supply in Budapest. July 1968. 5-6.
Great Hungarian Compass 1893-1915.
Pesti Napló 1912.
Press material 1893-1915.
Founded in 1893
Date of cessation: 1915
Founders: Hungarian Clearing and Exchange Bank, Union bank, Ganz factory
Securities issued:
| Hungarian electricity ltd |
| Hungarian electricity company futures |
Decisive leaders:
1893-1915 | Dr. Sándor Matlekovics |
Main activity: generation and transmission of electricity
Main products are not set
Seats are not configured
Locations are not set
Main milestones are not set
Author: Róbert Szabó
Founded in 1893
Founders: Hungarian Clearing and Exchange Bank, Union bank, Ganz factory
Decisive leaders:
1893-1915 | Dr. Sándor Matlekovics |
Main activity: generation and transmission of electricity
Main products are not set
Seats are not configured
Locations are not set
Main milestones are not set
Author: Róbert Szabó
Hungarian electricity ltd
The Hungarian Electricity Joint-Stock Company was founded in 1893 by the Hungarian Calculation and Exchange Bank, the Union Bank of Vienna and the Ganz factory in Hungary with a share capital of 3 million crowns. The company was one of the domestic companies that won a concession from the capital in 1892 to supply Budapest with electricity. After years of development, the company fell victim to the public utility system, which was bought by the capital in 1914, and was liquidated at the beginning of 1915.
The first electric lighting in Hungary dates back to 1878, when the iron foundry of Ganz and Company and Ganz Street were lit by electricity for the first time. However, it was not until 1893 that public lighting began to be used in the capital: the reason for this was that in 1879 the capital city of Budapest signed a contract with the Allgemeine Österreichische Gasgesellschaft, which was the only company to win a concession for the provision of electric lighting. This contract was only cancelled in 1891, which also gave the capital back the right to establish its own supervision of the city's electricity supply through contractors. By the 1890s, the solution to this problem had become a matter of real urgency, given the significant increase in demand for electricity.
The Hungarian Electricity Joint Stock Company was founded almost at the same time as the Budapest General Electricity Joint Stock Company, in 1893. Its creation was due to the fact that, together with the Budapest General Electricity Company, it won the concession tendered by the Budapest administration to supply the capital with electricity. However, the contract gave the capital the right to set up its own electricity generation plants and provided that after 45 years the plants of the two companies would become the property of Budapest free of charge. Under the concession, Magyar Villamossági Részvénytársaság was responsible for the production of alternating current. The company set up its generating plant in the area bounded by Váci út, Tisza utca, Visegrádi utca and Dráva utca under a contract with the capital using a transformer invented by Károly Zipernovszky, Miksa Déri and Ottó Bláthy. In the twenty years of its existence, the company has grown considerably. As early as 1894, it had branches in Pécs, Eger and Fiume. In January 1908, the Eger plant was replaced by the town of Eger, which was a town with an ordinary council, and the Fiume plant by the town of Fiume. Thus, by 1910, the company only managed the Budapest electricity generating plant. As technical conditions improved, including the modernisation of heating technology and the installation of more modern machinery, the company was able to make significant progress. This development was particularly marked in the first years after the turn of the century.
The growing demand for electricity is shown by the fact that while in the year after the company was founded only 100 km of cables were laid, by 1912 this had risen to over 250 km.
In the last years of its existence, the company experimented with electric street lighting, as did the Budapest General Electricity Company. As an experiment, Ganz electric alternating current arc lamps were installed on Szent István körút in 1911. In the same year, the company continued to install arc lamps on Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út, Károly körút and Múzeum körút.
From 1912, Budapest, as the capital and seat of the city, already had the right to redeem entire industrial estates. In this respect, attention was turned to the Hungarian Electricity Joint Stock Company. According to the Pesti Napló, the only reason why the capital decided to redeem the company's plant was that the constant breakdowns in the plant had given evidence of poorly functioning cables and plants, so that it could be assumed that the joint-stock company's plant "is the minimum value." This is contradicted by the change in the share price of the company. This leads us to the assumption that the Pesti Napló deliberately wrote the article in order to devalue the company's plant.
The scandals surrounding the public limited company were most often understood by the newspaper as blackouts lasting a few hours or half a day. The paper expressed its disapproval of the company in January 1912, when the lights went out for three hours. According to the paper, "this company has become a system of constant confusion and clumsy haste", so he proposed that the capital take tougher action against the irresponsible company in order to "greater caution and conscientiousness" force it. According to the paper, if the civil population does not turn against the joint stock company after such an incident, such disruptions are still expected to occur. In order for the capital to put economic pressure on the company, Budapest's management has set up a power generating plant owned by the capital. In August 1912, this led to the construction of the Kelenföld Power Generating Station, which began supplying electricity in 1914. By creating a competitor, the capital succeeded in driving down prices, which directly contributed to the liquidation of the private company. It was therefore expected that Budapest would exercise this right in 1914. At the beginning of the year, the press reported that the Hungarian Electricity Corporation was doing everything in its power to maintain a profitable business. To this end, the company proposed to merge the electricity generating plants of the joint-stock company and the capital so that 51% of the shares would be held by the capital.
Although the press reported that this was an excellent opportunity for Budapest, the capital remained adamant and the takeover took place on 1 June 1914. The company was declared liquidated on 16 February 1915.
Sources
János Bertalan:The first century of electric lighting. Budapest, 1978. XVI(6), 30-32.
Lilly Kozma: The first 25 years of Budapest's electricity service. The first 25 years of Budapest's first electricity supply in Budapest. July 1968. 5-6.
Great Hungarian Compass 1893-1915.
Pesti Napló 1912.
Press material 1893-1915.