Salgótarján coal mine ltd
The discovery that Salgótarján and its surroundings were rich in coal was first described in 1766 by Vencel Matusek, a cadastral master from Pest, who bought oak trees in the area and heard stories about it from local woodcutters. 82 years later, it was Austrian mining entrepreneur Jeromos Moosbrugger and engineer Alajos Wéber who first invested in Albert Prónay's Zagyva estate in 1848, but they were unable to make significant progress due to the lack of transport roads and railways. Subsequently, in 1856, József Preussner bought the mine and sold the coal to Pest and the Tisza region, but after the opening of the coal mines of the Danube Steamship Company in Pécs, he was forced out of the market.
The mine was reopened in 1859 by Gergely Windsteig, a Viennese mine owner together with János Brellich. Brellich has a generally poor reputation in the literature, which describes him as an entrepreneur driven only by easy money and who therefore constantly travelled around the empire in search of new opportunities (and fleeing from his former partners). At the same time, he was the first to take action to connect the coal basin around Salgótarján to the country's bloodstream by rail, so he started to organise the "St. Stephen's Coal Mine and Horsepower Railway Company of Salgótarján", and in 1861 the "St. Stephen's Coal Mine Company" was founded, which in 1863 won the right to build railways, and thus changed its name to "Cs. Kir. free Pest-Losonc-Bestercebánya Railway and St. Stephen's Coal Mining Company" and started building the railway. However, as is usual with swindlers, by 1865 they ran out of money and the company went bankrupt. Finally, the Austrian government came to the rescue, giving the company a loan and at the same time acquiring supervisory rights, and by 1867 the railway was built and the traffic started. However, in 1867, the company, which by then was called the 'Hungarian Northern Railway', was again on the verge of bankruptcy, a situation that was resolved by the first Minister of Finance after the Reunification, Menyhért Lónyay. Lónyay acquired the railway from the shareholders for the state, and the remaining company, Salgótarján Coal Mining Company Ltd. was established in August 1868 as the legal successor to the Szent István Company. The first president of the company was Count Antal Forgách, who was also instrumental in the earlier acquisition of the Austrian government loan.
In the year of its foundation in 1868, the company had a total of 7 456 cadastral acres of coal fields (in the settlements of Kazár, Salgótarján Pálfalva, Baglyas and Vecseklő), which was then continuously expanded (to 32 842 cadastral acres in 1918 and 54 172 in 1942).
With the land acquired and the Austrian, Czech, German and Polish miners attracted to the town, production was able to grow steadily. While in 1867, 394,000 m³ of coal were produced, by 1868 the annual production had exceeded one million m³, in 1870 two million, in 1887 five million and in 1896 ten million. The general economic stagnation of the 1900s also slowed down the company's production growth, which in the years before the war could only reach almost 12 million with a workforce of 3 500-4 000, but the company was able to maintain production at around 10 million after Trianon and the demand for raw materials in the Second World War meant that production rose to 17 million in 1942, although at about the same efficiency, as the mines were already employing 8 000 people at that time.
The establishment of the Salgótarján Coal Mine Ltd. drew the attention of many potential future competitors to the coal deposits of Nógrád. As it is common practice and has become known in economics through the Hotelling model, where a company pays the costs of creating a market, rivals will soon appear, who will find it easier to start up in an established market. This is what happened in our case, since Count Ábrahám Gyürky had already established the Kisterenyei Kőszoenbánya Rt. in 1869, followed by the Minich-Jaulusz-Hoffmann Baglyasalja Mining Company between 1872 and 1874, the National Mining Company and, in time, the Anglo-German Bank of Hamburg and the Hungarian National Bank, which acquired coal mining rights. Although these enterprises were not long-lived, the North Hungarian United Coal Mining and Industrial Company Ltd., established in 1881, proved to be one and provided serious competition to the Salgótarján Coal Mining Company Ltd. This was partly the reason why the latter was forced to develop continuously, for example, in 1894, together with the Hungarian Commercial Bank of Pest, they bought the mines of the Brasov Mine and Coal Association in Zsilvölgy, and in 1898 the interests of the Esztergom-Szászvár Coal Mine Ltd. Both transactions took place at id. Ferenc Chorin. However, the acquisition of competitors did not stop there, in 1903 the company acquired the Felsőzsilvölgyi Kőszénbánya Társulat, then in 1909 it founded Nyugatmagyarországi Kőszénbánya Rt. together with Magyar Általános Kőszénbánya Rt., and in 1917 it bought its former great rival, the North Hungarian United Stone Coal Mining and Industrial Company Rt.
In 1920, together with the Rimamurány-Salgótarján Ironworks Ltd, they founded the Bánvölgyi Kőszénbánya Rt., with which they also entered into a community of interests in 1921 and exchanged shares. The economic opportunities for the company increased between the two world wars, as its coal production position was enhanced by the loss of mines outside the borders of Trianon. In the light of this, the company was able to start acquiring other companies, and from 1921 onwards it acquired substantial interests in the United Brick and Cement Works, the Trading and Construction Works, the Industrial Explosives Works, the Dorog Carbide Factory, the Hungarian Ceramic Factory, the Union Mining and Industrial Works in Vorpolota, and the Pécs-Baranya Coal Mine Works.
In 1944, when the country became a war zone, the company's operations were paralysed. The fighting did not spare the mine's territory either, and the Soviet army, which entered Salgótarján on 25 December 1944, shut down the local power station on 6 January, causing the mine to flood (until then it had been held back by pumps left behind by the Germans). Production could only resume in April 1945, and on 1 January 1946 the company was nationalised and dismembered.
Source:
József Dzsida (1944):The history of the coal mining of the Salgótarján Coal Mine Ltd. in Nógrád from 1868 to 1943. Published by the Mining Directorate of Salgótarján Coal Mine Ltd., Salgótarján.
Károly Jenei: The Salgótarján Coal Mine Ltd. and the companies of the concern : Repertory (Archives inventories 43. Budapest, 1968)History of the Salgótarján Coal Mine Ltd. https://library.hungaricana.hu/hu/view/MolDigiLib_LevLelt_43
Date of foundation: 1868
Date of cessation: 1948
Founders are not set
Decisive leaders:
1868-1881 | Count Antal Forgách |
1882-1886 | Alajos Strobentz |
1887 | Konrád Burchard-Bélaváry |
1888- | Id. Dr. Ferenc Chorin |
-1948 | Ifj. Dr. Ferenc Chorin |
Main activity not set
Main products are not set
Seats are not configured
Locations are not set
Main milestones are not set
Author: by Dr. Márton Pelles
Date of foundation: 1868
Founders are not set
Decisive leaders:
1868-1881 | Count Antal Forgách |
1882-1886 | Alajos Strobentz |
1887 | Konrád Burchard-Bélaváry |
1888- | Id. Dr. Ferenc Chorin |
-1948 | Ifj. Dr. Ferenc Chorin |
Main activity not set
Main products are not set
Seats are not configured
Locations are not set
Main milestones are not set
Author: by Dr. Márton Pelles
Salgótarján coal mine ltd
The discovery that Salgótarján and its surroundings were rich in coal was first described in 1766 by Vencel Matusek, a cadastral master from Pest, who bought oak trees in the area and heard stories about it from local woodcutters. 82 years later, it was Austrian mining entrepreneur Jeromos Moosbrugger and engineer Alajos Wéber who first invested in Albert Prónay's Zagyva estate in 1848, but they were unable to make significant progress due to the lack of transport roads and railways. Subsequently, in 1856, József Preussner bought the mine and sold the coal to Pest and the Tisza region, but after the opening of the coal mines of the Danube Steamship Company in Pécs, he was forced out of the market.
The mine was reopened in 1859 by Gergely Windsteig, a Viennese mine owner together with János Brellich. Brellich has a generally poor reputation in the literature, which describes him as an entrepreneur driven only by easy money and who therefore constantly travelled around the empire in search of new opportunities (and fleeing from his former partners). At the same time, he was the first to take action to connect the coal basin around Salgótarján to the country's bloodstream by rail, so he started to organise the "St. Stephen's Coal Mine and Horsepower Railway Company of Salgótarján", and in 1861 the "St. Stephen's Coal Mine Company" was founded, which in 1863 won the right to build railways, and thus changed its name to "Cs. Kir. free Pest-Losonc-Bestercebánya Railway and St. Stephen's Coal Mining Company" and started building the railway. However, as is usual with swindlers, by 1865 they ran out of money and the company went bankrupt. Finally, the Austrian government came to the rescue, giving the company a loan and at the same time acquiring supervisory rights, and by 1867 the railway was built and the traffic started. However, in 1867, the company, which by then was called the 'Hungarian Northern Railway', was again on the verge of bankruptcy, a situation that was resolved by the first Minister of Finance after the Reunification, Menyhért Lónyay. Lónyay acquired the railway from the shareholders for the state, and the remaining company, Salgótarján Coal Mining Company Ltd. was established in August 1868 as the legal successor to the Szent István Company. The first president of the company was Count Antal Forgách, who was also instrumental in the earlier acquisition of the Austrian government loan.
In the year of its foundation in 1868, the company had a total of 7 456 cadastral acres of coal fields (in the settlements of Kazár, Salgótarján Pálfalva, Baglyas and Vecseklő), which was then continuously expanded (to 32 842 cadastral acres in 1918 and 54 172 in 1942).
With the land acquired and the Austrian, Czech, German and Polish miners attracted to the town, production was able to grow steadily. While in 1867, 394,000 m³ of coal were produced, by 1868 the annual production had exceeded one million m³, in 1870 two million, in 1887 five million and in 1896 ten million. The general economic stagnation of the 1900s also slowed down the company's production growth, which in the years before the war could only reach almost 12 million with a workforce of 3 500-4 000, but the company was able to maintain production at around 10 million after Trianon and the demand for raw materials in the Second World War meant that production rose to 17 million in 1942, although at about the same efficiency, as the mines were already employing 8 000 people at that time.
The establishment of the Salgótarján Coal Mine Ltd. drew the attention of many potential future competitors to the coal deposits of Nógrád. As it is common practice and has become known in economics through the Hotelling model, where a company pays the costs of creating a market, rivals will soon appear, who will find it easier to start up in an established market. This is what happened in our case, since Count Ábrahám Gyürky had already established the Kisterenyei Kőszoenbánya Rt. in 1869, followed by the Minich-Jaulusz-Hoffmann Baglyasalja Mining Company between 1872 and 1874, the National Mining Company and, in time, the Anglo-German Bank of Hamburg and the Hungarian National Bank, which acquired coal mining rights. Although these enterprises were not long-lived, the North Hungarian United Coal Mining and Industrial Company Ltd., established in 1881, proved to be one and provided serious competition to the Salgótarján Coal Mining Company Ltd. This was partly the reason why the latter was forced to develop continuously, for example, in 1894, together with the Hungarian Commercial Bank of Pest, they bought the mines of the Brasov Mine and Coal Association in Zsilvölgy, and in 1898 the interests of the Esztergom-Szászvár Coal Mine Ltd. Both transactions took place at id. Ferenc Chorin. However, the acquisition of competitors did not stop there, in 1903 the company acquired the Felsőzsilvölgyi Kőszénbánya Társulat, then in 1909 it founded Nyugatmagyarországi Kőszénbánya Rt. together with Magyar Általános Kőszénbánya Rt., and in 1917 it bought its former great rival, the North Hungarian United Stone Coal Mining and Industrial Company Rt.
In 1920, together with the Rimamurány-Salgótarján Ironworks Ltd, they founded the Bánvölgyi Kőszénbánya Rt., with which they also entered into a community of interests in 1921 and exchanged shares. The economic opportunities for the company increased between the two world wars, as its coal production position was enhanced by the loss of mines outside the borders of Trianon. In the light of this, the company was able to start acquiring other companies, and from 1921 onwards it acquired substantial interests in the United Brick and Cement Works, the Trading and Construction Works, the Industrial Explosives Works, the Dorog Carbide Factory, the Hungarian Ceramic Factory, the Union Mining and Industrial Works in Vorpolota, and the Pécs-Baranya Coal Mine Works.
In 1944, when the country became a war zone, the company's operations were paralysed. The fighting did not spare the mine's territory either, and the Soviet army, which entered Salgótarján on 25 December 1944, shut down the local power station on 6 January, causing the mine to flood (until then it had been held back by pumps left behind by the Germans). Production could only resume in April 1945, and on 1 January 1946 the company was nationalised and dismembered.
Source:
József Dzsida (1944):The history of the coal mining of the Salgótarján Coal Mine Ltd. in Nógrád from 1868 to 1943. Published by the Mining Directorate of Salgótarján Coal Mine Ltd., Salgótarján.
Károly Jenei: The Salgótarján Coal Mine Ltd. and the companies of the concern : Repertory (Archives inventories 43. Budapest, 1968)History of the Salgótarján Coal Mine Ltd. https://library.hungaricana.hu/hu/view/MolDigiLib_LevLelt_43