Johann Korbuly

Johann Korbuly (born January 29, 1860 in Vienna ; † April 23, 1919 ) is the inventor of the Matador building set.

Johann Baptist Korbuly was the seventh of 18 children of the Viennese merchant Joseph Joachim Gregor Korbuly from Transylvania and the wholesaler daughter Maria Rosa Azaria. He graduated from the building trade school in Vienna and from 1876 to 1880 the pioneer cadet school . Initially working as a pioneer in Bosnia , he returned to Vienna in 1880 because he had to look after his mother and three sisters. In 1884 he resigned as a lieutenant and continued his technical studies. In 1891 he married Josepha Greiler from Marktl in Aschaffenburg under civil law and in 1894 in Graz in church . He worked as a geometer and civil engineer and created, among other things, a map of the city of Sankt Pölten . He laid out the Graz Schloßbergbahn and was responsible for building supervision there in 1893 and 1894. Korbuly invented the Matador construction kit around 1899. Since his three sons, Johann (born 1892), Anton (1893–1917) and Rudolf (1894–1979) were constantly destroying each other's buildings while building with wooden building blocks, he decided to drill holes in them and use chopsticks to make firmly connectable. In 1901 Korbuly received patents on his invention in several states. From 1903 he began to mass-produce the Matador construction kit in Vienna. After initial difficulties, the Matador construction kit achieved a resounding success, so that Korbuly could stop working as an engineer in 1908. After his death in 1919, the Matador company was continued by his two sons Johann and Rudolf.

literature

Korbuly Johann. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 4, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1969, p. 123.
City Museum Traiskirchen: 100 years of the Matador. A construction kit conquers the world , Traiskirchen 2007
Tobias Hötzer: The Matador construction kit. The story of an Austrian toy manufacturer. Departmental thesis from history, social studies and political education, Bundesgymnasium Porcia, Spittal an der Drau 2012.
Eva Offenthaler: A matador of the toy industry: the inventor Johann Korbuly - biography of the month on the homepage of the Austrian Biographical Lexicon (November 2016) .

Web links

Thomas Öllinger: Matador - history
Entry on Johann Korbuly in the Austria Forum (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
Matador blog

Individual evidence

^ Baptismal register Vienna – St.Stephan, vol. 118, p. 4
^ Marriage book Graz-Graben (St. Johann Baptist), vol. 5, p. 312
↑ Thomas Öllinger
↑ Baptismal register Vienna – St. Othmar among the white tanners, vol. 9, p. 244
↑ Tobias Hötzer: The Matador construction kit. The story of an Austrian toy manufacturer. Departmental work from history, social studies and political education, Spittal 2012, pp. 7–18.

personal data
SURNAME	Korbuly, Johann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Austrian engineer, inventor and toy manufacturer
DATE OF BIRTH	January 29, 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH	Vienna
DATE OF DEATH	April 23, 1919
Place of death	Vienna

[1] Baptismal register Vienna – St.Stephan, vol. 118, p. 4

[2] Marriage book Graz-Graben (St. Johann Baptist), vol. 5, p. 312

[3] Thomas Öllinger

[4] Baptismal register Vienna – St. Othmar among the white tanners, vol. 9, p. 244

[5] Tobias Hötzer: The Matador construction kit. The story of an Austrian toy manufacturer. Departmental work from history, social studies and political education, Spittal 2012, pp. 7–18.