The company was founded by
Ábrahám Ganz in 1844. He was invited to
Pest, Hungary, by Count
István Széchenyi and became the casting master at the
Roller Mill Plant (referred to as
Hengermalom in Hungarian). In 1854 he began manufacturing hard cast
railroad wheels in his own plant founded in 1844. The management of the steam mill paid a share of the profit to Ganz. This enabled him to buy, in 1844, land and a house for 4500 Forints in Víziváros, Buda castle district. Abraham Ganz built his own foundry on this site and started to work there with seven assistants. They made mostly casting products for the needs of the people of the city.[3] In 1845, he bought the neighbouring site and expanded his foundry with a cupola furnace. He gave his brother, Henrik a job as a clerk, because of the growing administration work. He made a profit in the first year, and his factory grew, even though he had not yet engaged in mass production. In 1846, at the third Hungarian Industrywork Exhibition (Magyar Iparmű Kiállítás), he introduced his stoves to the public. He won the silver medal of the exhibition committee and the bronze medaille from Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary. During the
Hungarian Revolution of 1848 the foundry made ten cannons and many cannonballs for the Hungarian army. Because of this, the Military Court of Austria impeached him. He got seven weeks in prison as penalty, but because of his Swiss citizenship he was acquitted of the charge.[3] Ganz recognized that, to develop his factory, he had to make products that were mass-produced. In 1846 the Pest-Vác railway line was built. At that time, European foundries made wrought iron rims for spoked wagon wheels by pouring the casts in shapes in sand, and leaving them to cool down. He successfully developed a
railway wheel
casting technology; it was the new method of "crust-casting" to produce cheap yet sturdy iron railway wheels, which greatly contributed to the rapid railway development in Central Europe. 86,074 pieces of hard cast wheels had been sold to 59 European railway companies until 1866. Consequently, this factory played an important role in building the infrastructure of the Hungarian Kingdom and the
Austro-Hungarian Empire. At this time the
agricultural machines,
steam locomotives, pumps and the
railway carriages were the main products. At the beginning of the 20th century, 60 to 80% of the factory's products were sold for export. After the death of Abraham Ganz, the heirs entrusted the management of the factory to his direct colleagues at Ganz Művek: Antal Eichleter, Ulrik Keller and Andreas Mechwart, which then took the name Ganz & Co. The Ganz family sold the company, which consisted of five departments, and in April 1869 it was transformed into a joint-stock company, and continued its operations under the name of "Ganz és Társa vasontöde és Gépgyár Rt." (Ganz & Partners Iron Foundry and Machine Factory Co.) The technical director was András Mechwart, under whose direction Ganz became one of the most important groups of machine building companies in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy after 1869. At the end of the 19th century, the products of the
Ganz and Partner Iron Mill and Machine Factory (hereinafter referred to as
Ganz Works) promoted the expansion of
alternating-current power transmissions.
Prominent engineers File:Hajógyári favázas ipari csarnoképület (1186. számú műemlék) 2.jpg|thumb|Ganz Shipyard hall building (The Shipyard was demolished in the early 2000s. This old, fachwerk-style hall was originally intended to be preserved, but it was also destroyed in 2015.) — Budapest, Meder utca File:Foundry_Museum,_Budapest-2.jpg|thumb|Ganz Trunk Factory Bark Foundry (now: Foundry Museum) — Budapest, Bem József u. 20. File:Budapest_-_Millipop_Mosolygyár.jpg|thumb|Ganz Electric Works (now: Millennium Park) — Budapest, Lövőház utca 39. File:Ganz_Kapcsoló-_és_Készülékgyártó_Kft.4.jpg|thumb|Ganz Switches and Devices Factory (it works) — Budapest, Kőbányai út 41/c. Prominent engineers at
Ganz works included
András Mechwart,
Károly Zipernowsky,
Miksa Déri,
Ottó Titusz Bláthy,
Kálmán Kandó,
György Jendrassik and
Ernő Wilczek.
Revolution in the milling industry The invention of the modern industrial mill (the
roller mill) – by
András Mechwart in 1874 – guaranteed a solid technological superiority and revolutionized the world's milling industry. Budapest's milling industry grow the second largest in the world, behind the American Minneapolis. The Hungarian grain export increased by 66% within some years.
Power plants, generators turbines and transformers ,
Ottó Bláthy,
Károly Zipernowsky In 1878, the company's general manager
András Mechwart founded the Department of Electrical Engineering headed by
Károly Zipernowsky. Engineers
Miksa Déri and
Ottó Bláthy also worked at the department producing
direct-current machines and
arc lamps. In 1878, the company began producing equipment for electric lighting and, by 1883, had installed over fifty systems in Austria-Hungary. Their AC systems used arc and incandescent lamps, generators, and other equipment.
Generators The first turbo generators were
water turbines which drove
electric generators. The first Hungarian water turbine was designed by engineers of the Ganz Works in 1866. Mass production of dynamo generators started in 1883. The missing link of a full Voltage Sensitive/Voltage Intensive (VSVI) system was the reliable
alternating current constant voltage generator. Therefore, the invention of the constant voltage generator by the Ganz Works in 1883 had a crucial role in the beginnings of industrial scale AC power generation, because only these types of generators can produce a stable output voltage, regardless of the actual load.
Transformers ,
Hungary) In cooperation, Zipernovsky, Bláthy and Déri (known as the ZBD team) constructed and patented the
transformer. The "transformer" was named by Ottó Titusz Bláthy. The three invented the first high efficiency, closed core shunt connection transformer. They also invented the modern
power distribution system: Instead of a series of connections they connected supply transformers in parallel to the main line. The transformer patents described two basic principles. Loads were to be connected in parallel, not in series as had been the general practice until 1885. Additionally, the inventors described the closed armature as an essential part of the transformer. Both factors assisted the stabilisation of voltage under varying load, and allowed definition of standard voltages for distribution and loads. The parallel connection and efficient closed core made construction of electrical distribution systems technically and economically feasible. The Ganz Works built the first transformers using iron plating of enamelled mild iron wire, and started to use laminated cores to eliminate
eddy currents In May 1885, at the Hungarian National Exhibition in Budapest, Deri, Blathy, and Zipernowski held a large-scale demonstration of what is widely regarded as the prototype of modern AC lighting systems. Their system used 75 transformers in parallel connection, supplying 1,067 incandescent Edison lamps from an AC generator that provided 1,350 V.
AC Power stations In 1886, the ZBD engineers designed, and the company supplied, electrical equipment for the world's first
power station to use AC generators to power a parallel connected common electrical network. This was the Italian steam-powered Rome-Cerchi power plant. Following the introduction of the transformer, the Ganz Works changed over to production of alternating-current equipment. For instance, Rome's electricity was supplied by hydroelectric plant and long-distance energy transfer. Between 1885 and 1930, the Ganz Works established a significant presence in the British power industry, primarily through the export of high-capacity alternating current (AC) machinery. Following the 1885 ZBD transformer patent, Ganz provided the electrical infrastructure for some of the earliest AC installations in London, most notably for the Metropolitan Electric Supply Company in 1889. In the early 20th century, the export focus shifted to large-scale power generation, including the delivery of massive alternators to municipal power stations in Hastings (1894) and Brighton. By the 1920s, Ganz supplied advanced turbogenerators based on Ottó Bláthy's cross-slot rotor design to major industrial sites, including the Stepney Power Station in London (1925) and various plants in the Midlands. These exports were characterized by their high efficiency, often outcompeting local manufacturers in technical specifications for large-scale urban electrification. The Ganz Works maintained a competitive presence in the German electrical market, often outperforming domestic giants like Siemens and AEG in the specialized field of alternating current (AC) distribution. Between 1885 and 1945, the Ganz Works played a pivotal role in the electrification of Germany by supplying cutting-edge alternating current (AC) technology that often served as the primary alternative to the direct current systems of domestic firms. The company's expansion began in Cologne in 1886, where Ganz constructed one of Germany's first major municipal AC central stations, providing large-scale alternators and the newly patented ZBD transformers for city-wide lighting. This success led to further contracts in Bremen (1890) and Crefeld (1892), where Ganz installed complete transformer distribution networks and high-capacity generators. Following the landmark 1891 Frankfurt International Electrotechnical Exhibition, Ganz secured massive orders for the municipal power systems of Mainz (1895) and Strassburg (1895), delivering 400 kW alternators and high-voltage substations that were considered technological benchmarks at the time. In the early 20th century, Ganz equipment was integrated into the tramway and industrial grids of Munich and Nuremberg. During the interwar period, the export focus transitioned to high-performance turbogenerators and switchgear; notably, between 1922 and 1930, Ganz supplied advanced 20-40 MVA turbogenerators based on Ottó Bláthy's designs to major industrial power plants in Essen, Dortmund, and Düsseldorf, supporting the heavy industrial electrification of the Ruhr region until the late 1930s. In Italy, Ganz secured its most prestigious international success with the electrification of Rome, starting in 1886 with the installation of ZBD transformers for municipal lighting, followed by the landmark Tivoli-Rome long-distance transmission project in 1892, which utilized Ganz alternators to transmit power over 28 kilometers. This was followed by the supply of heavy-duty generators to Milan and the comprehensive "Sistema Ganz" three-phase traction electrification of the Valtellina line in 1902, a project that influenced urban tramway and railway standards throughout the Italian peninsula. In France, the company operated through a dedicated subsidiary and local partnerships, notably providing the complete electrical equipment and generators for the city of Nice in 1891 and supplying advanced traction motors for the municipal tramways of Lyon and Marseille during the early 1900s. The French market also integrated Ganz-designed alternators into the power stations of Paris following the company's technical demonstrations at the 1900 World's Fair. Within the Benelux region, Ganz technology was instrumental in early urban modernization; in Brussels, Belgium, the company installed some of the city's first high-capacity AC alternators in the late 1880s, while in the Netherlands, the city of Amsterdam became a major recipient of Ganz traction motors and bogies for its expanding tramway network during the 1920s. Throughout the interwar period, Ganz continued to export high-voltage switchgear and specialized transformers to industrial centers in Antwerp and Liege, maintaining a dominant role in the electrification of Western European heavy industry until the onset of World War II. File:Ganz Transformers december 1886.jpg|Ganz Transformers in december 1886 File:Turbinaszerelés.jpg|construction of a
Ganz water
turbo generator (1886) File:PSM V56 D0433 Direct connected electric railway generator.png|PSM V56 D0433 direct connected
electric railway generator (1899) File:Blathy in a Ganz turbogenerator.jpg|
Ottó Bláthy in the
armature of a
turbo generator (1904) File:ZEMP244.jpg|Ganz 21.000 kW
Transformer (1911, weight: 38t) File:A Ganz Gyár csarnoka, Budapest, Kisrókus utca (1922) Fortepan 95160.jpg|A generator assembly hall of the
Ganz Works (1922) File:Gorskii 04414u.jpg|
Alternators in a
hydroelectric station on the
Murghab River. File:Generator-20071117.jpg|
Generator in
Zwevegem,
West Flanders,
Belgium Electricity meters The first mass-produced kilowatt-hour meter (
electricity meter), based on Hungarian
Ottó Bláthy's patent and named after him, was presented by the Ganz Works at the Frankfurt Fair in the autumn of 1889, and the company was marketing the first induction kilowatt-hour meter by the end of the year. These were the first alternating-current wattmeters, known by the name of Bláthy-meters. Beyond the production of heavy machinery, the Ganz Works became a global pioneer in the field of electrical measurement, primarily through the inventions of Ottó Bláthy. In 1889, Bláthy patented the world's first induction watt-hour meter (fogyasztásmérő), which was the first device capable of accurately measuring energy consumption in alternating current (AC) systems. This invention was crucial for the commercial viability of electric utilities, as it allowed for precise billing of consumers for the first time. Following the initial success of the 1889 model, Ganz introduced significantly improved, smaller-sized meters in 1910 (the "N" type) and the 1920s, which became the industrial standard across Europe. The company's product range also included high-precision voltmeters, ammeters, and phase meters utilized in both industrial laboratories and power stations. Ganz had significant exports to Great Britain. The records explicitly state that by 1900, the company had established a dominant presence in the British market, supplying specialized meters to the municipal grids of London and Manchester. The export of Ganz measuring instruments was extensive, reaching markets far beyond the reach of their heavy electrical equipment. In Germany, Ganz meters were adopted on a massive scale starting in the 1890s, with major municipal utilities in Frankfurt and Cologne utilizing Hungarian-made induction meters as their primary billing units. By 1900, the company had established a dominant presence in the British market, supplying specialized meters to the London and Manchester municipal grids. In 1912, Ganz secured a significant contract for the supply of thousands of electricity meters to Saint Petersburg and Moscow, Russia, marking the beginning of a long-standing dominance in the Eastern European measurement market. During the interwar period, Ganz's export of measuring instruments expanded globally; between 1924 and 1935, millions of units were exported to Argentina and Brazil, while in the Far East, the company provided the primary electrical measurement infrastructure for the modernization of Shanghai (1928) and several several Japanese industrial centers. This global network of measurement technology remained a core revenue stream for the company, with Ganz-licensed meter production established in several Western European countries to meet the high demand for Bláthy's patented designs. According to historical data and the records of the company, two major German cities stood out where Hungarian-made measuring instruments became the standard units for billing: Frankfurt: The municipal utilities in this city were among the first to implement Ganz meters on a large-scale industrial level. Cologne: In this city, Hungarian-manufactured induction meters were also utilized as the primary billing units for electricity consumption.
Industrial refrigerators and air conditioners In 1894, Hungarian inventor and industrialist
István Röck started to manufacture a large industrial ammonia refrigerator (together with the Esslingen Machine Works) which was powered by Ganz electric compressors. At the 1896 Millennium Exhibition, Röck and the Esslingen Machine Works presented a 6-tonne capacity artificial ice producing plant. In 1906, the first large Hungarian cold store (with a capacity of 3,000 tonnes, the largest in Europe) opened in Tóth Kálmán Street, Budapest, the machine was manufactured by the Ganz Works. Until nationalisation after the Second World War, large-scale industrial refrigerator production in Hungary was in the hands of Röck and Ganz Works. The contract between Ganz and Egypt in the 1930s played a key role in the development of cooling equipment: railcars delivered to Egypt were equipped with air-conditioning cooling systems. The collective of the Ganz factory (machine designers: Gábor Hollerung, Rezső Oláh, István Pfeifer, Prónai) designed and built the 3-cylinder, 20 kW compressors with freon refrigerant, air condenser and evaporator. The machine could also be converted to heat pump operation.
ICE engines and vehicles The beginning of
gas engine manufacturing in Hungary is linked to
Donát Bánki and
János Csonka but it is not clear that they ever worked for Ganz. Ganz produced engines whose designs were licensed to Western European partners, notably in the United Kingdom and Italy. automobile of 1905 ;Timeline • 1889 the first
four-stroke gas engine was built by the Ganz factory • 1893 the manufacture of
paraffin and
petrol fuelled engine with
carburetor • 1898 the manufacture of engines with the Bánki water injection system • 1908 the introduction of a new
petrol engine type, the series Am • 1913 the manufacture of
Büssing petrol engines for
trucks • 1914–18 the manufacture of
fighter plane engines • 1916 the manufacture of petrol engines, type Fiat • 1920 the modification of petrol engines for
suction gas operation • 1924
György Jendrassik started his engine development activity • 1928 the first railway
diesel engine was completed, according to the plans of Ganz-Jendrassik • 1929 the first export delivery of a railway engine using the system of Ganz-Jendrassik • 1934 there was an engine reliability World Competition in the USSR where the Ganz engine achieved the best fuel consumption in its category • 1939 Scale model of Ganz Ac Electric locomotive exhibited at the Italy Pavilion of the New York World's Fair • 1939–42 construction of the
Jendrassik Cs-1 turboprop engine • 1944 the first application of the engine type XII JV 170/240 in a motor-train set • 1953 modernisationon of the diesel engine system Ganz-Jendrassik • 1959 the union of the Ganz factory and the
MÁVAG company, establishing Ganz-MÁVAG
Railways Steam motors in Budapest (1894–1896) which was the first underground in
Continental Europe The Ganz Company started to construct
steam locomotives and
steam railcars from the 1860s. Between 1901 and 1908, Ganz Works of Budapest and
de Dion-Bouton of Paris collaborated to build a number of railcars for the Hungarian State Railways together with units with de Dion-Bouton boilers, Ganz steam motors and equipments, and Raba carriages built by the
Raba Hungarian Wagon and Machine Factory in
Győr. In 1908, the Borzsavölgyi Gazdasági Vasút (BGV), a
narrow-gauge railway in
Carpathian Ruthenia (today's Ukraine), purchased five railcars from Ganz and four railcars from the Hungarian Royal State Railway Machine Factory with de Dion-Bouton boilers. The Ganz company started to export
steam motor railcars to the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Japan, Russia and Bulgaria.
The World's first electrified main railway line in Italy The Ganz Works, having identified the significance of
induction motors and
synchronous motors, commissioned
Kálmán Kandó to develop them. In 1894, Hungarian engineer Kálmán Kandó developed high-voltage
three-phase AC motors and generators for
electric locomotives. The first-ever electric rail vehicle manufactured by Ganz Works was a 6 HP pit locomotive with direct current traction system. The first Ganz made
asynchronous rail vehicles (altogether 2 pieces) were supplied in 1898 to
Évian-les-Bains (France) with a 37 HP asynchronous traction system. The Ganz Works won the tender for electrification of the
Valtellina Railway in Italy in 1897. Under the management, and on the basis of plans from Kálmán Kandó, three phase electric power at 3 kV and 15 Hz was fed through two upper wires and the rails. The electricity was produced in a dedicated power station and the system operated for thirty years from 1902. Italian railways were the first in the world to introduce electric traction for the entire length of a main line rather than just a short stretch. The 106 km Valtellina line was opened on 4 September 1902, designed by Kandó and a team from the Ganz works. The three-phase two-wire system was used on several railways in Northern Italy and became known as "the Italian system". Kandó was invited in 1905 to undertake the management of Società Italiana Westinghouse and led the development of several Italian electric locomotives. Kandó invented and developed the
rotary phase converter, enabling electric locomotives to use three-phase motors whilst supplied via a single overhead wire, carrying the simple industrial frequency (50 Hz) single phase AC of the high-voltage national networks. After
World War I, at the Ganz Works, Kálmán Kandó constructed a single-phase electric railway system using 16 kV at 50 Hz. A similar system, but using
15 kV at 16.7 Hz, later became widely used in Europe. The main attribute of Kandó's 50 Hz system was that it was fed by the normal power network, so dedicated railway power stations became unnecessary. Because of the early death of Kálmán Kandó,
László Verebélÿ continued the work for the
Hungarian State Railways (MÁV). File:AEGV gőzmotorkocsi.JPG|The first steam railcar built by Ganz and de Dion-Bouton File:Ganz engine Valtellina.jpg|Ganz AC electric locomotive prototype (1901
Valtellina, Italy) File:RA 361 Ganz Valtellina.jpg|Electric locomotive RA 361 (later
FS Class E.360) by Ganz for the Valtellina line, 1904 File:V50.jpg|The first locomotive with a phase converter was Kando's V50 locomotive (only for demonstration and testing purposes) File:Vasútállomás, Ganz gyártmányú Árpád sorozatú (TAS) sínautóbusz. Fortepan 23230.jpg|Árpád Diesel railbus in 1937 File:Provincia del Chubut - Bariloche - Ganz 2.jpg|Ganz train on the
Ferrocarriles Patagónicos railway in Argentina (1945) File:BASA-PZ-643-8-6-16-Diesel railcar, Avramovo-Saint Petka Station.jpg|Ganz
diesel railcar on
Septemvri-Dobrinishte narrow gauge line,
Bulgaria, 1950-1963 File:V63.jpg|A series
V63 Ganz-MÁVAG electric locomotive of Hungarian State Railways File:EM_1367_leading_a_southbound_4_car_set_as_the_morning_sun_breaks_through_the_clouds,_near_Epuni_-_17_May_2003.jpg|
Tranz Metro EM class Ganz-MÁVAG unit in service in the Hutt Valley, New Zealand File:19880816-TRIPOLIS-GANZ-A6463.jpg|
Metre gauge Ganz-MÁVAG trainset of
Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE) at
Tripoli,
Greece File:Budapest Ganz-built articulated tram 1443 at Batthyány tér terminus in 2007.jpg|
Ganz-MÁVAG CSMG tram for the
Budapest tram (2007)
Ganz-MÁVAG rail rolling stock In 1959 Ganz merged with the
MÁVAG company and was renamed
Ganz-MÁVAG. In 1976 Ganz-Mávag supplied ten
standard gauge 3-car diesel trainset to the
Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE), designated as Class AA-91 and four
metre gauge 4-car trainsets, designated as Class A-6451. In 1981/82 Ganz-Mávag supplied to OSE 11 B-B diesel-hydraulic DHM7-9 locomotives, designated as class A-251. Finally, in 1983, OSE bought eleven 3-car metre gauge trainsets, designated as Class A-6461. All these locomotives and trainsets have been withdrawn with the exception of one standard and one metre gauge trainset. In 1982/83 Ganz-Mávag supplied an order for
electric multiple units to
New Zealand Railways Corporation for Wellington suburban services. The order was made in 1979, and was for 44 powered units and 44 trailer units, see
New Zealand EM class electric multiple unit.
Ganz-Trams Ganz City Tramway Manufacturing (1890–1945) The period between 1890 and 1945 represents the most influential era of the Ganz Works' electrical department in urban transit. Following the development of the transformer and the invention of reliable direct current (DC) traction motors, Ganz became a global powerhouse, transitioning from the wooden-bodied cars of the Belle Époque to the advanced, steel-framed, remote-controlled trains of the interwar period. The company's engineering philosophy emphasized extreme durability, which allowed many of these vehicles to remain in service for over 60–70 years. A major technological leap occurred in the late 1920s with the development of the automatic contactor gear, allowing multiple-unit operation. By the 1930s, Ganz was at the forefront of streamlining and weight reduction, employing all-steel construction and modern, high-speed motors that defined the aesthetics of mid-century Budapest. Domestic Distribution (Kingdom of Hungary) Until 1920, the cities within the historical Kingdom of Hungary were considered the company's primary domestic market. During the interwar period, Ganz focused on the modernization of the Budapest network under the unified municipal operator, BSZKRT. •
Bratislava (Pozsony): 1895 – Full system electrification and 9 initial motor cars. •
Rijeka (Fiume): 1899 – Electrical infrastructure and 8 motor cars. •
Timișoara (Temesvár): 1899 – Turnkey system including 17 motor cars for the city's first electric line. •
Sibiu (Nagyszeben): 1905 – Supply of early trackless cars and urban trams. •
Budapest (BKVT/BVVV): 1904–1912 – Mass production of the "V", "F", and "1000" series. •
Debrecen: 1911 – 24 twin-axle motor cars for the city's newly electrified network. •
Košice (Kassa): 1913 – Full electrical equipment and motor cars for the first electric fleet. •
Budapest (BSZKRT): 1927–1930 – Modernization of older types with new Ganz motors (e.g., 2900 series). •
Budapest (TM "Stuka"): 1940–1943 – The debut of the iconic, streamlined, all-steel 3600 series, featuring advanced noise-reduction and rapid acceleration. International Exports Ganz's export strategy was highly successful in winning "turnkey" projects and supplying specialized electrical components to major European capitals. •
Cairo (Egypt): 1896 – 40 motor cars and the city's first complete electrical transit infrastructure. •
Sofia (Bulgaria): 1901 – The first 6 motor cars for the city's inaugural tram lines. •
Buenos Aires (Argentina): 1903–1905 – Large-scale export of bogies and electrical sets for the Anglo-Argentine Tramways Company. •
Rome (Italy): 1905–1920s – Extensive supply of motors and controllers for the SRTO fleet. •
Amsterdam (Netherlands): 1920s – Supply of electrical components and motor parts for the GVB Amsterdam. •
Vienna (Austria): 1910–1930s – Continued supply of specialized heavy-duty motors for the Vienna Tramway (Wiener Linien). •
Zagreb (Yugoslavia): 1922–1924 – Significant electrical upgrades and motor deliveries for the ZET Zagreb fleet. Technological Evolution and War Impact The interwar period (1920–1939) saw Ganz shifting towards "multiple-unit control," enabling two or more motor cars to be operated by a single driver. The 1940-series TM (popularly known as "Stuka") was the pinnacle of this era, featuring a lightweight design and high-performance motors that rivaled the contemporary American PCC cars. However, World War II severely disrupted production. From 1942, the factory was increasingly forced to shift toward military production. The Siege of Budapest in 1944–1945 resulted in significant damage to the Ganz factories and the destruction of much of the domestic tramway infrastructure, bringing the company's most successful private era to a close before the post-1945 nationalization.
Ganz-MÁVAG delivered 29 trams (2 car sets) to
Alexandria, Egypt from 1985 to 1986.
Shipbuilding, Ganz - Danubius In 1911, the Ganz Company merged with the
Danubius shipbuilding company, which was the largest shipbuilding company in Hungary. From 1911, the unified company adopted the
"Ganz–Danubius" brand name. In the beginning of the 20th century the company had 19 shipyards on the
Danube and the
Adriatic Sea in the city of
Fiume and
Pola. As Ganz-Danubius, the company became involved in shipbuilding before, and during,
World War I. Ganz was responsible for building the dreadnought , all of the
Novara-class cruisers, all of the
Tátra-class destroyers, and built diesel-electric
U-boats at its shipyard in Budapest, for final assembly at Fiume. Several U-boats of the
U-XXIX class,
U-XXX class,
U-XXXI class and
U-XXXII class were completed. A number of other types were laid down, but remained incomplete at the war's end. Ganz-Danubius was contracted to build 2 of the 4
Ersatz Monarch-class superdreadnought battleships, the most ambitious and powerful warships Austria-Hungary attempted to build, but due to the outbreak of the war, construction of this class was postponed and eventually cancelled. By the end of the First World War, 116 naval vessels had been built by the Ganz-Danubius company. The company also produces transatlantic ocean liners for passenger lines Trieste - New York, Trieste - Montevideo, as a reflection of already formed wave of mass migration from Central Europe to America. File:The assembly of a SM U-31 submarine in the Ganz-Danubius company.jpg|The back of the
SM U-29 submarine during assembly (24 April 1916) File:Tatra NH 87665 (cropped).jpg|Lead ship of her class, destroyer
SMS Tátra in 1913 File:Novaral.jpg|The battle-damaged after a victorious
naval battle File:Szent Istvan.jpg|Hungarian built
dreadnought battleship at
Pola (military dock) File:The construction of SMS Szent Istvan.webm|Construction of
SMS Szent István battleship in the Ganz-Danubius shipyard in
Fiume (filmed 1912)
Aircraft The first Hungarian "aeroplane factory" (
UFAG) was founded by the Ganz Company and
Weiss-Manfréd Works in 1912. During World War I, the company made many types of
Albatros and
Fokker fighter planes. Before 1919, the company built
ocean liners,
dreadnought type
battleships and
submarines,
power plants,
automobiles and many types of fighter aircraft. The world's first
turboprop engine was the
Jendrassik Cs-1 designed by the Hungarian mechanical engineer
György Jendrassik. It was built and tested in the Ganz factory in Budapest between 1939 and 1942. It was planned to be fitted to the Varga RMI-1 X/H twin-engined reconnaissance bomber designed by László Varga in 1940, but the program was cancelled. Jendrassik had also designed a small-scale 75 kW turboprop in 1937. ==After World War II==