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Konstal
Alstom Konstal is a company based in Chorzów, Poland producing rail vehicles, in particular metro cars and trams, as well as components for trains.
In 1864, the plant was founded as part of the Royal Steelworks in Chorzów and in 1917, it was excluded from its structures as a separate enterprise. During World War II, the factory belonged to the Reichswerke Hermann Göring produced for the needs of the army of the Third Reich, while during the Communist Period, as the Chorzów Steel Structures Factory Konstal, it was the main supplier of trams for Poland. In 1995, the company's shares were transferred to the National Investment Funds, after which the plant began cooperation with the Linke-Hofmann-Busch factory belonging to the French Alstom concern.
In 1997, the company was bought out by Alstom, and a year later, simultaneously with the change of its name to Alstom, the Polish factory adopted its current name.
In 1864, the Processing Workshops (German: Verarbeitungswerkstätte) were established in connection with the intensive development of railways in Upper Silesia in the 1860s. These workshops were created as a production department of the Royal Steelworks in Chorzów (German: Königshütte) and placed on the site of a former steel rolling mill. Their first iteration included processing of steel produced in the steelworks into various accessories for tracks and rolling stock.
In 1901, the production department of stamped sheet metal products was launched, and in 1908, departments of spring production and railway turnouts launched. In July 1917, the workshops were excluded from the organizational structure of the Royal Steelworks, because at that time the production of the factory differed from the activity of the raw material smelter. The established independent company was named the Royal Steelworks Workshop Board (German: Werkstättenverwaltung Königshütte).
In 1922, a part of Upper Silesia was annexed by Poland, where most of the mines, smelters and factories belonging to the company of united steelworks were located. At that time, its name was polonized to the Upper Silesian United Royal Steelworks and Laura in Katowice, but nevertheless remained in the hands of German ownership. The unstable economic situation of the refounded Poland and the customs war with Germany, which in 1925 led to the suspension of exports from Poland to Germany, caused a decline in production.
In 1936, a four-axle motor car of the ESCx series called Luxtorpeda was built, and in 1939, Konstal welded first boxes of passenger cars.
After the entry of German troops in 1939 and 1940, the administration and property of the Community of Mining and Metallurgical Interests came under the receivership of the state-owned Reichswerke A.G. für Berg- und Hüttenbetriebe Hermann Göring. The Processing Workshops became part of it and adopted the name Górnośląskie Zakłady Metalowe Spółka Akcyjna Huty Królewskiej/Górny Śląsk (German: Oberschlesische Metallwerke Aktien-Gesellschaft Königshütte/Oberschlesien, abbreviated as Osmag). Poles were fired from managerial positions with several hundred workers deported deep into Germany for forced labor and several dozen, mainly former participants of the Silesian uprisings, were sent to labor camps.
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Konstal
Alstom Konstal is a company based in Chorzów, Poland producing rail vehicles, in particular metro cars and trams, as well as components for trains.
In 1864, the plant was founded as part of the Royal Steelworks in Chorzów and in 1917, it was excluded from its structures as a separate enterprise. During World War II, the factory belonged to the Reichswerke Hermann Göring produced for the needs of the army of the Third Reich, while during the Communist Period, as the Chorzów Steel Structures Factory Konstal, it was the main supplier of trams for Poland. In 1995, the company's shares were transferred to the National Investment Funds, after which the plant began cooperation with the Linke-Hofmann-Busch factory belonging to the French Alstom concern.
In 1997, the company was bought out by Alstom, and a year later, simultaneously with the change of its name to Alstom, the Polish factory adopted its current name.
In 1864, the Processing Workshops (German: Verarbeitungswerkstätte) were established in connection with the intensive development of railways in Upper Silesia in the 1860s. These workshops were created as a production department of the Royal Steelworks in Chorzów (German: Königshütte) and placed on the site of a former steel rolling mill. Their first iteration included processing of steel produced in the steelworks into various accessories for tracks and rolling stock.
In 1901, the production department of stamped sheet metal products was launched, and in 1908, departments of spring production and railway turnouts launched. In July 1917, the workshops were excluded from the organizational structure of the Royal Steelworks, because at that time the production of the factory differed from the activity of the raw material smelter. The established independent company was named the Royal Steelworks Workshop Board (German: Werkstättenverwaltung Königshütte).
In 1922, a part of Upper Silesia was annexed by Poland, where most of the mines, smelters and factories belonging to the company of united steelworks were located. At that time, its name was polonized to the Upper Silesian United Royal Steelworks and Laura in Katowice, but nevertheless remained in the hands of German ownership. The unstable economic situation of the refounded Poland and the customs war with Germany, which in 1925 led to the suspension of exports from Poland to Germany, caused a decline in production.
In 1936, a four-axle motor car of the ESCx series called Luxtorpeda was built, and in 1939, Konstal welded first boxes of passenger cars.
After the entry of German troops in 1939 and 1940, the administration and property of the Community of Mining and Metallurgical Interests came under the receivership of the state-owned Reichswerke A.G. für Berg- und Hüttenbetriebe Hermann Göring. The Processing Workshops became part of it and adopted the name Górnośląskie Zakłady Metalowe Spółka Akcyjna Huty Królewskiej/Górny Śląsk (German: Oberschlesische Metallwerke Aktien-Gesellschaft Königshütte/Oberschlesien, abbreviated as Osmag). Poles were fired from managerial positions with several hundred workers deported deep into Germany for forced labor and several dozen, mainly former participants of the Silesian uprisings, were sent to labor camps.