Peter Klubal & Co.
Peter Klubal & Co. was an important car factory in Prague during the Austro-Hungarian monarchy .
history
In 1856 the master saddler Leschtina, established in Prague on Wenceslas Square , turned to car production. The originally modest scope of the business was soon expanded through the business skills of the master, so that Leschtina, who died in 1872, left a prosperous business behind, which the previous manager Peter Klubal took over.
The new owner merged with two men who were familiar with car manufacturing, the blacksmith Josef Pokorny and the wagon master Wenzel Bejol, to form a registered company. In the course of time, the activities of the three partners succeeded in transforming the commercial operation that they had taken over into a modern, functional factory set-up. The products manufactured under their expert management were characterized in the same way by their elegance, by their solid workmanship and durability, and earned the best reputation in all circles. They not only found good sales domestically, but were also exported to Russia , Bulgaria , Serbia and especially America . A specialty of the company was the production of rubber wheels , for which a patent was acquired.
In 1896, a serious illness forced Peter Klubal to retire from the business, and his son Franz Klubal took his place, at whose side the former partners Pokorny and Bejol continued to work.
During the short period of effectiveness of Franz Klubal, who had acquired the company with an academic background and was also rich in practical experience, the company experienced a major expansion. The factories proved to be inadequate with the ever-growing demand, and so began to expand. A wagon, a machine house and a wagon magazine were completely rebuilt, a gas engine with 8 HP was installed and the mechanical equipment was supplemented accordingly.
The company owned a factory on Wenceslas Square with an area of 800 square feet and a wagon store on Mariengasse, which covered 388 square feet.
The factory united in five workshops Wagnerei , metalworking , forging and saddlery , furthermore were there and the Comptoirs , a wagon and a material magazine .
The innovations carried out by Franz Klubal have resulted in a considerable increase in production, which has increased from 100–150 in the past to over 200 cars produced annually. Around 1900 there were around 60 workers.
The service time of the employees ranged from 28 years for two, 10 years for more than eight and six years for more than twenty. The reputation that Peter Klubal gained among his fellow citizens through his industrial work can be gauged by the fact that they elected him to the Prague city council in 1883 .
In the following year he was the first in Bohemia to be awarded the title of kuk Hof-Wagenfabrikanten , which title was transferred to his son Franz on February 17, 1879.
At the Bohemian National Exhibition in Prague, the company's products received the highest award, the honorary diploma from the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Commerce .
Individual evidence
- ^ Peter Klubal & Co. In: Presented by the industrialists of Austria under the high protectorate of His K. and K. Highness of the Most Serene Archduke Franz Ferdinand (ed.): Die Gross-Industrie Oesterreichs . Festival ceremony for the glorious fiftieth anniversary of the reign of His Majesty the Emperor Franz Josef I. Volume 3 . Leopold Weiss, Vienna 1898, IV. Machines, tools, p. 156 .