The Ringhoffer Works with more than 30,000 employees played a significant role in central European economy with global relevance, exporting railway carriages, cars (Tatra) and trucks across the world.

The factory in Smíchov produced court trains and famous saloon cars for European rulers and after 1945 trams for the entire Eastern bloc.

His son Joseph (1785–1847) established a hammer mill in Kamenice and extended the business by adapting it to the manufacture of special products for sugar factories and distilleries.

Joseph's son Franz (II) (1817–1873), the first Baron Ringhoffer, obtained by government decree a concession for the manufacture of all categories of metal work and machinery for the whole country.

[6] The monument was removed shortly after the Velvet Revolution and a new glass-and-steel building designed by French architect Jean Nouvel became a symbol of the district.