He was born in Pest on 14 May 1829, the son of wealthy industrialist József Kammermayer, who worked as operations manager at Count György Károlyi's glassworks in Parád.

In early 1848, he was among Lajos Kossuth's so-called "parliamentary youth" (Hungarian: országgyűlési ifjak), the law students and junior clerks who supported the ideas of reform and progress represented by the liberal aristocracy at the Lower House of the Diet.

He gave a memorable speech on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the suicide of Count István Széchenyi in April 1861, demanding the revival of the 1848 revolution's constitutional spirit.

[3] After the dissolution of the Diet of 1861, and the suspension of the local government system by Emperor-King Francis Joseph I's absolutist regime, the entire General Assembly, including Kamermayer, resigned in protest on 31 October 1861.

A delegation led by Kamermayer made study visits to several cities, including: Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Frankfurt, Prague, and Vienna.

[9] According to the contemporary press, Kamermayer's "unpretentious and diligent habit, conscientious sense of duty and tireless perseverance" made him well suited to fill the office.

Scholar József Göőz also argued that during severe winters the two main parts of Budapest were almost completely isolated from each other, and he also emphasized their continuing persistent self-interest.

Both Ráth and Kamermayer were members of the so-called "Eagles", an influential intellectual group, which permanently convened at the Arany Sas Fogadó (lit.

[2] In his inaugural speech after taking the oath, Kamermayer emphasized the importance of the principles of thrift and the need to establish national unity in Budapest.

His infrastructure investment aims, such as the construction of a modern sewerage system, and the establishment of new market halls, also served his public health efforts.

A lot of the administration was concentrated in Kamermayer's hands, for example: civil registration of births, marriages, citizenship naturalization, and the authorisation of water management.

[18] Nevertheless, Kamermayer had to raise numerous jurisdictional conflicts with the national cabinet during the governance of the powerful and charismatic Prime Minister Kálmán Tisza (1875–1890).

[19] Kamermayer successfully ensured that Hungarian entrepreneurs from Budapest and elsewhere were able to exhibit their products (for instance, Hungary's first steam locomotive by MÁVAG and ceramic works by Zsolnay Porcelain Manufacture) at the 1873 World's Fair in Vienna.

He gave protection to refugees following the Occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878, and also organized fundraising for the victims of the 1879 Great Flood in Szeged for which he received royal acknowledgment from Francis Joseph.

[22] Notwithstanding the reduction in spending, numerous significant investments were made during Kamermayer's first mayoral term (though, many of them were initiated and launched before the unification).

The ordinance of poverty regulation, issued by the General Assembly in 1875, also reflected this attitude resulting in many homeless people being deported from the city centre.

In 1876, the Saint Roch Hospital was extended with new buildings, while the first psychiatric institution (Hungarian: Első Magyar Hülyenevelő és Ápoló Intézet) opened in 1877.

While the Public Works Council supported the principle of artificial water filtration, Kamermayer and his colleagues opted for a system of natural filtering.

[20] Under the direction of chief architect Lajos Lechner and mining engineer János Wein, the first permanent waterworks was built in Budaújlak in 1881, which still operates today as the oldest such facility in Budapest.

After rejecting Ferenc Reitter's original plan for the construction of navigable channels, the city administration designated the boulevard's route from the Margaret Bridge to the Üllői Street.

In the city centre a rival bloc, supported by the Tisza government, ran in the election against the "Eagles" which was open towards the parliamentary opposition, especially the Party of Independence and '48.

In Józsefváros, the "Eagles" main opponent was the allegedly anti-Semitic "White Horse" group whose numbers grew following the Tiszaeszlár blood libel.

Kamermayer also decreed that epidemiological measures had to be taken including, among other things: compulsory notification and isolation of infectious diseases, and the institutional organization of disinfection by the health authorities.

[27] His fourth and last mayoral term began after the 1891 municipal election, which was accompanied by violent struggles due to political instability after the fall and resignation of Kálmán Tisza.

[34] Kamermayer played a significant role in the establishment of a new administrative structure in Budapest in 1893, increasing the importance of district offices (called prefectures at the time).

However, Kamermayer and his staff, who represented the concept of a unified city, rejected the idea that the prefects should be elected by their local assemblies, fearing the danger of constant fragmentation.

Designed and built by Samu Pecz in 1897, it is located at the end of the Váci Street on the Pest side of the Liberty Bridge (completed in 1896) at Fővám Square.

The Mayor personally led a delegation to Turin, Italy, where Kossuth spent his last years in exile, to hand over the certificate of honorary citizenship to his old mentor and idol.

[17] His personal prestige project, the Great Market Hall was completed just after his retirement, and Kamermayer participated in the opening ceremony as an ordinary citizen.

A small square was named after Kamermayer in Lipótváros, in front of the Gerlóczy Café, where a life-size statue, conceived by sculptor Béla Szabados, was erected in 1942.