Hungarian General Machine Factory
MÁG stands for "Magyar Általános Gépgyár Rt" (Hungarian General Engine Works Company Limited[1]).
Production was boosted by orders from the Post, the Army and other organisations – and outperforming other Hungarian manufacturers, including Röck, Rába, MARTA etc.- as the government tried to support local industry.
On September 15, 1884, Dániel Podvinecz and Vilmos Heisler opened their business under the name "Machinery Brokerage and Agency" in Budapest, at 16 Váci Boulevard, III.
Consequently, on May 15, 1892, they obtained their factory industrial certificates numbered 12079 for iron turning and 12080 for machinery repair, and relocated their company to 7 Botond Street in the VI district.
Due to further industrial developments by the government, the demand for gasoline engines increased, which also caught the attention of Podvinecz and Heisler.
They moved to what was then the outskirts of Váci Road, where they took over a site of 3,810 square yards, which they officially divided into two equal parts and registered in their names on October 26, 1900.
On February 14, 1901, the VI district authorities certified that "Podvinecz and Heisler manufacturers operate a factory at 141 Váci Street producing mill construction goods and gasoline engines."
To kickstart automobile manufacturing, they secured Fejes Jenő from the Arad-based MARTA company, who was entrusted with the management of the design office.
In 1906, when the Cudell parts ran out, the stocks of the Alba car factory in Trieste, which had been established in 1906 but had been liquidated in 1908 and belonged to the then Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, were bought up.
Dániel Podvinecz died in 1908, and after his death Vilmos Heisler ran the company alone for a time, then from 1911 with Géza Jalsoviczky, retired director of the Budapest State Higher Industrial School
In the days leading up to the outbreak of World War I, they also began series production of a 50-unit mail collection vehicle for the postal service, the designs of which were prepared by János Csonka.
The already completed engines and parts were incorporated into wheeled and portable versions of electric power generators and other aggregators at the request of the military.
Using the remaining chassis of a postal carriage started before the war, with a 60/100 mm bore/stroke and 10 hp engines, an old-new four-seater single-door model was launched, with the production of spare parts.
On 18 April 1941, at the conclusion of the closing general meeting, the Hungarian Machine Works Limited Company was dissolved.
Here, at 141 Váci út, they took over a 3,810 square metre site, divided into two equal parts, where they continued to manufacture millinery goods and machinery, adding petrol engines, and then in 1904 expanded their range to include automotive products.
Immediately adjacent to the machine shop was a factory-built "compound condensation steam engine" which powered the entire plant.
[7] In 1914, the Ministry of War commissioned the factory to produce aircraft engines, and by the end of 1916 it was the second most-employed industrial enterprise in the Monarchy, with Skoda Group joining the joint-stock company in 1915.
Thus, in January 1916, the company purchased the Beniczky plot 142000 square between the so-called forest belt and the Crossroads road on the outskirts of Cinkota.
THE M. Á. G.'s capital increase also included the Schwerin-based Fokker aircraft company, which transferred its proven patents and models in exchange for shares of corresponding value.
The earthworks for the factory were awarded to Lord and his partner, the master builder's work to Dávid R. and his son, the reinforced concrete to István Pacher, the ironwork to Antal Oetl, the carpentry to Wellisch Náthán's successor, the slate roofing to the Újlak Brickworks, the skylights to Haas and Somogyi, the heating system to B. and E. Körbing, its plumbing and sewerage were built by Salamon Spitzer.
