Business Archives

Banking Institutions

Land-banks

Insurance Companies

Corporate Bodies

Mining Companies

Coal-mine Companies

Bauxite Mine Companies

Oil Industry

Companies of the Iron, Metal and Machine Industry

Chemical Works

Enterprises of Electric Energy Industry and Electric Supply Companies

Electric Industrial Companies

Precision Engineering Industry

Enterprises of Construction and Building Material Industry

Paper and Timber-industry

Printing and Publishing Companies

Film and Entertainment Enterprises

Enterprises of Textile, Fur and Leather Industry

Enterprises of Food Industry

Cooperatives and Agricultural Enterprises

Commercial Enterprises

Transportation Companies

Planning and Investment Companies

Banking Institutions

1839–1989

The 99 fonds of banking institutions include the records of banks, the institutions and enterprises of banks, savings banks, pawnshops and mortgage institutions.

It was after 1867 when the banks and banking institutions played a vitally important part in the organisation and development of Hungarian economy. The most significant fonds preserved in the National Archives are as follows: First Home Savings Bank Association of Pest Co., Hungarian Commercial Bank of Pest Co., Hungarian General Credit Bank Co., State Banking Centre.

The establishment of an independent central bank of issue was a fundamental prerequisite for the consolidation following the post-WW I economic collapse. The Hungarian National Bank was established to resolve this problem in July 1924. After their nationalisation in 1948, most banks and banking institutions were closed down or merged with other institutions. The scope of activities of the remaining institutions was narrowed down and it had become subservient to the central economic will. The National Bank became the centre of the specialised socialist bank system. From the post-1945 material the fonds of the National Savings Bank, the Hungarian Investment Bank (State Development Bank) and the National Mint deserve attention.

Finding aids: Repertories are available for several fonds of banking institutions.

Land-banks

1856–1951

The Hungarian Land-bank was established in 1862 in order to émake dead estates credit-worthy by granting them loans, through associations with mutual guarantee, up to half of the amount of their mortgage value”. The archival material of the National Land-bank of Smallholders, the National Association of Hungarian Land-banks and the National Land-bank also deserves attention.

Finding aids: Contemporary place-name indexes, synoptic repository registers.

Credit Unions

1868–1952

The foundation of credit unions was important to the stimulation of the economy. The most valuable fonds of such institutions are the material of the National Central Credit Union, the Union for Financial Management of the Land Reform, the National Villatic Building-society and the National Building and Loan Association. The National Credit Union for Co-operatives was established in 1947. Besides giving credits, it was assigned to collect "kulak debts" and to control the credit and financial management of collective farms as well as individual farmers (it was dissolved in 1952).

Insurance Companies

1868–1952

The record group of insurance companies consists of 25 badly fragmented fonds. The 1860s and 1870s are considered as the period of the formation of the insurance organisation. Parallel with Hungarian investments, German, Austrian, Italian and French investors also took part in the build-up of the insurance business. The examples of foreign investments include the UNITAS, the Hungarian branch of Phoenix Life-insurance Co., the Hungarian Directorate of Adria Insurance Co. as well as the Fonciere General Insurance Institute.

Finding aid: Repertory

Corporate Bodies

1850–1972

The institution of chambers was introduced in the entire territory of the Habsburg Empire in 1850. By its influence and wide-ranging activities, the Budapest Commercial and Industrial Chamber rose above the others. Besides operating as a corporate body, it also acted as an authority concerning commercial, industrial and public administration. Between 1945 and 1948, when it was dissolved, its activities were connected to the industrial reform and the issuing of merchant licences.

Finding aid: Repertory

The Produce and Stock Exchange of Budapest was established in 1864. The growing manufacturing industry organised an independent corporate body, the Union of Hungarian Manufacturers (GYOSZ), in 1902. Its archival material survived in a badly fragmented state. In 1948, both the Stock Exchange and GYOSZ were dissolved.

Finding aid: Repertory

Mining Companies

(1800) 1830–1993

Within the 157 fonds of mining companies the documents of every relevant branch of the mining industry can be found including the coal, bauxite, metal and oil companies as well as the companies processing mineral by-products like brick, plaster, lime and cement works, their supply stations as well as the institutions organically connected to the activities of the companies such as retiring funds, mine directorates and inspectorates, workers’ and screening committees, party organisations and sports clubs.

Coal-mine Companies

In the historical Hungary, the bulk of coal production was in the hands of three major monopoly: the Hungarian General Coal-mine Company, the Coal-mining Company of Salgótarján and the First Danubian Steamship Navigation Company. The fonds of coal-mine companies as mine authorities are valuable historical sources concerning both economic and local history.

In 1946, the coal-mine companies were taken into public ownership, and the Hungarian State Coal-mine Company (MÁSZ) was established. The mines were administered from the centre of the Company and the regional mine directorates. In 1948, the MÁSZ was dissolved and, as part of the decentralisation of the mine industry, the coal-mining industrial centres and national companies were founded. The coal-mine trusts were formed from the coal-mining industrial centres during 1952.

The United Hungarian Coal Mines Co. was established in 1967 in order to co-ordinate the projects aiming the rationalisation of the coal-mine industry, utilise development funds and draw up plans for production.

Finding aid: Repertory

Bauxite Mine Companies

The Bauxite Mine and Industrial Co. began its activities in 1917. After the First World War, in order to utilise mine-fields that remained outside the decreased territory of Hungary, the company established branches in Fiume, Trieste, Bucharest and Zagreb. To co-ordinate the work of the Hungarian and foreign companies a holding was established in Zurich, Switzerland, by the name Bauxite Trust A.G. By the end of the 1920s the concern of these two companies became one of the largest bauxite companies of the world.

In 1946, in this area too, the shares of former German assets were taken over by the Soviet Union, thus were the Soviet–Hungarian Bauxite-Aluminium Co. and the Hungarian Bauxite Mine Soviet–Hungarian Aluminium Co. established. The bauxite mining and its processing industry played a prominent part in the Hungarian industry. The documents of the Bakony Bauxite Mine Company, the Ajka Alumina Factory and Smelting Works, the Almásfüzitő Alumina Works and the Hungarian Aluminium Industry Trust confirm this fact.

Finding aids: Repertory to the pre-1945 material, repository registers to the post- 1945 records.

Oil Industry

The Hungarian–American Oil Industrial Co. was the only significant firm of the inter-war period oil industry. Its archival material can be studied by repertory. The Hungarian–Soviet Oil Company and National Oil and Gas Industrial Trust belonged to the major companies of the postwar period.

Companies of the Iron, Metal and Machine Industry

1585, 1705–1992

The record unit of the iron, metal and machine industry consists of 127 fonds. The economic documents of the companies usually survived in a defective, fragmented form.

The Rimamurány–Salgótarján Ironworks Co. was one of the largest industrial companies after the Austrian–Hungarian Compromise of 1867. As a result of the Trianon peace treaty the firm got into an extremely difficult situation. Its mines and certain depots were placed under foreign control and it lost most of its markets, but its processing factories remained in Hungary. During WW II the company was one of the most important war factories. In 1946 it was taken into public ownership. Its successor, the Metallurgical Works of Ózd went through a forced development during the 1950s and it belonged to the leading industrial enterprises in the 60s and 70s too.

Following the Compromise, the production of vehicles and agricultural machines became predominant within mechanical engineering with the exception of the Ganz Co. which produced railway and mill equipment and joined in the electrotechnical industry as well. At the turn of the century the Ganz Co., with its 6500 workers, was the largest mechanical company of the country. The Hofherr-Schrantz-Clayton-Shuttleworth Hungarian Mechanical Engineering Co. was one of the Monarchy’s, later Hungary’s, most important agricultural machinery producers. After its nationalisation, its name was changed to Red Star Tractor Factory.

Finding aids: Repertories

On drawing near the Second World War, the government invested large amounts in the development of war industry. The Manfred Weiss Concern Enterprises was one of the biggest war factories. The leading role of the Manfred Weiss Steel and Metal Co., including the management and control over both domestic and foreign companies, guaranteed the co-ordinated governance of the companies and the protection of the Weiss family’s interests. In 1928, the Manfred Weiss Aeroplane and Motor Industries Co. was established, then in 1941, in accordance with the German–Hungarian agreement on aeroplane production, the Danubian Aeroplane Co. followed which embarked upon the mass production of aeroplane engines.

An exceptionally important source of the nationalisation period is the material of the Heavy Industrial Centre which contains valuable information on the postwar reactivation and reorganisation of large industrial companies. A similarly important material is the fond of the Representation of Industrial Works National Co. of which commercial questionnaires provide an overall view on individual companies including data on the nationalisation and financial status of the firms.

The Ikarus Carrosserie and Vehicle Factory was established by merging the nationalised Uhri factory in the Ikarus Mechanical and Hardware Co. The Csepel Iron and Metal Works, Danubian Iron Works, Lenin Metallurgic Works, Diósgyőr Mechanical Works and the Hungarian Anti-friction Bearings Works were the centres of the large-scale socialist industry.

Chemical Works

1884–1992

The 59 fonds of chemical works contain valuable information on a wide range of chemical productions.

The material of the Hungarian Rubber Co. is a significant source of economic history. Following the First World War, the company belonged to the first line of international chemical industry.

In the pharmaceutical industry, the Richter and the Chinoin were the two largest and most famous companies. Important documents can be found in the material of the Chinoin’s scientific and patent department and the Richter’s directorate. After 1945, the pharmaceutical industry remained one of the most dynamic branches of the economy. The fond of the Hungarian Pharmaceutical Union contains important documents of the industry’s medium level management.

The record unit of chemical companies also contains such significant enterprises as the Shell Oil Co., the Vacuum Oil Company, the Hungaria Artificial Fertiliser, Vitriol and Chemical Co. or the Nitrokémia Industrial Plants Co. The Hungarian Chemical Industry Union, established in 1968, co-ordinated the development and research activities of associated firms. From among the companies that worked within the framework of the Union, the following have material at Department IV: the Nitrogen Works of Pét, North Hungarian Chemical Works, Tiszanian Chemical Complex.

Finding aids: Repertories and repository registers.

Enterprises of Electric Energy Industry and Electric Supply Companies

1891–1989

This group of fonds contains the archival material of such companies as the Corporation for Electric Industrial and Transportation Companies, Hungária Electrical Co., Hungarian Transdanubian Electrical Co., Hungarian Electrics Trust as well as the Thermal Power Plants of Ajka, Pécs and Tatabánya.

Finding aids: Repository registers.

Electric Industrial Companies

1876–1988

The archival material of electric industrial companies is badly fragmented as, during the Second World War, most of the companies became a military target, therefore a large amount of their documents perished.

The United Electric Co. was established in 1896. Its name was changed to United Light Bulb and Electrics Co. in 1906, and its products became world famous by the trademark Tungsram. It also produced telephone and telegraph appliances, and the first Hungarian automatic telephone exchange was made in its factories too. The Hungarian Brown Boveri Works Electric Co. produced electric machinery, motors, transformers and generators. The Hungarian Siemens-Schuckert Works Electric Co. was formed in 1904 and specialised in power-current and weak-current engineering. The company’s name was changed to Hungarian Siemens Works Co. in 1942. Between 1945 and 1947 it worked under the name of Electric Industrial and Commercial Co. then, for almost five years, it has been taken into Soviet ownership.

The Hungarian Wolfram-lamp Factory János Kremenezky Co. was founded in 1913. Besides producing electric bulbs, it also manufactured machinery, appliances and tools to electric lighting and electric power transmission. (Their products were circulated under the name of Orion.) The Telephone Factory Co., the Remix Electrical Engineering Factory Ltd., the Hungarian Philips Works Co. and the "Standard" Electrics Co., which was formed from the telephone department of the United Electrics, were also among the most significant electric industrial enterprises.

From among the post-1945 firms the material of the VIDEOTON Electronics Company contains a considerable amount of documents, but the Hungarian Telecommunications United also deserves attention.

Precision Engineering Industry

1880–1991

In Hungary, the precision engineering, as an independent branch of industry, only slowly developed, but the boom of mechanical engineering, aircraft production and electronics as well as the needs of war industry had created favourable conditions to its development.

In the 1920s, the Hungarian Optical Works Co. produced precision mechanical appliances, road and railway construction instruments as well as mining, military, scientific, aviation and electrical engineering instruments. It also dealt with grinding of optical lenses. Between 1945 and 1950 it worked as a Soviet–Hungarian joint venture. The Gamma Precision Engineering and Optical Works Co. produced geodesic, optical and precision instruments as well as anti-aircraft and targeting appliances. The Hungarian Siemens Reiniger Works Co. produced several surgical instruments and appliances.

The precision engineering factories, due to their war industrial character, also suffered serious damages during WW II. Their documents survived in a fragmented state.

From among the post-1945 companies, the fonds of the MIKI Measurement Technology Development Company, the Labor Precision Instrument Works and the Microelectronics Company can be mentioned.

Finding aids: Repertories.

Enterprises of Construction and Building Material Industry

1878–1991

The fond group of construction and building material industry consists of 16 fonds. The companies of the bourgeois age are represented by the badly fragmented material of some brickworks, road construction, glass and ceramics factories. Within the post-1845 material, the Road Construction Trust as well as the Cement and Lime Works have a considerable amount of documents.

Finding aids: Repository registers.

Paper and Timber-industry

1892–1971

The 15 fonds of paper and timber-industry contain records concerning woodworking, paper making and trade.

Finding aids: Repository registers.

Printing and Publishing Companies

1784–1990

The fond group of printing and publishing companies contains 14 fonds. The records of the Royal Hungarian University Press form the most valuable material within the group. The documents, created between 1784 and 1947, are a precious source for researchers interested in the history of book publishing. The fonds of the Révai Brothers Literary Institute Co. and the Athenaeum Literary and Press Co. form a challenging material for librarians and the researchers of literary history.

The archival material of the Printing Industrial Trust and Association is a valuable source of the socialist economic organisation and management. The Trust was founded in 1963 and dissolved in 1968 parallel with the establishment of the Printing Industrial Association. The Association consisted of 38 member companies including ancillary industries and commercial firms as well.

Finding aid: Repository register.

Film and Entertainment Enterprises

1922–1993

The film and entertainment industry is represented by 5 fonds. The scripts of quite a few old movies can be found in the material of the Production Department of the Hunnia Film Factory Co. The records of the Hungarian Cinematography Company are arranged by film productions. The Hungarian Circus and Show Variety Company organised and managed a considerable part of the show-business.

Enterprises of Textile, Fur and Leather Industry

1800–1992

After the Compromise, the light industry, including the textile, fur and leather industry, was modestly represented within the industrial production, however, in the inter-war period, the textile industry became one of the most developing branches.

The Samuel F. Golberger & Sons Co. was turned into a large-scale enterprise in the mid-20s. The archival material of Leo Goldberger, which forms a separate record unit, contains the family’s private and business related documents from 1817. The documents of this record unit reveal the colourful political and public activities of Leo Goldberger. The main rival of the Goldgbergers, the Hungarian Cotton Industry Co. became one of the leading textile factories of the inter-war Hungary. Among the most significant new enterprises of the early 20th century, the Kispest Textile Works Co., the Jute and Hemp Industrial Co. and the Hungarian Hemp and Flax Industrial Co. deserve attention. The Home Fésűsfonó and Weaving Factory Co., which introduced a new branch of industry in Hungary, was the most significant new company of the 1920s. The Budaprint Cotton Printing Company was one of the remarkable firms of the post-1945 textile industry.

The primary conditions of large-scale mechanised leather and fur industry were established in the 1880s and 1890s. The Pannónia Lambskin Manufacturing and Trade Co. dealt with the currying and tanning of lambskin, sheepskin, game and precious fur. The Panofix trademark became known even in the world market. The scope of activities of the Julius Wolfner & Co. included the wool washing, tanning and currying as well as the shoe sole and uppers production. The Wolfner family played a significant role in the organisation and development of the sports and cultural life of the town of Újpest.

Finding aid: Repertory.

Enterprises of Food Industry

1848, 1864–1991

Only a very small, fragmented part of the documents of the milling industry has been transferred to the National Archives. Within this material, the records of the Syndicate of Hungarian Export Mills deserve attention.

The Hungarian Cocoa and Chocolate Factory Co. was the first large-scale Hungarian sweets industry enterprise. The Dreher Maul Cocoa and Chocolate Factory Co. was the other most serious firm. It merged into the Dreher Brewery and Cholate Factory in 1933. Within the post-1945 material, the Danube Chocolate Factory has a considerable amount of documents.

Within the distillation business the Geschwindt Spirit, Yeast, Liqueur and Sugar Factory Co. as well as the J. Zwack & Sons Liqueur and Rum Works were among the most significant. In Hungary the industrial brewery was introduced by Austrian and Swiss entrepreneurs, Anton Dreher and Henrik Haggenmacher. The documents of their companies, the Anton Dreher Breweries Co., the First Hungarian Brewery Inc., the Haggenmacher Breweries of Kőbánya and Budafok Co. as well as the Dreher Haggenmacher First Hungarian Brewery Inc. can be found in the material of Section “Z”.

One of the most interesting and, on the basis of the available documents, relatively well accessible material of the nationalised food industry is the records of the post-1945 centralisation period. Among others, the fonds of the following food industry trusts can be found in the material of Department IV: Cereals Trust, Animal Trade and Meat Industrial Trust, Trust of Sugar Works, Trust of Distillation Plants and Trust of Breweries.

Finding aids: Repertories and supplementary repository registers

Cooperatives and Agricultural Enterprises

1891–1964

The 76 fonds of cooperatives and agricultural enterprises contain the archival material of various producer, commercial and consumer cooperatives along with their institutions and enterprises as well as some agricultural enterprises.

In Hungary, the development of the co-operative movement started as late as the last decades of the 19th century. The Co-operative of Hungarian Farmers was established in 1891, mainly in order to resolve the purchase and sale problems of big and medium landowners. The öAnt” Production, Marketing and Consumers’ Co-operative started its activities in 1898 and in one and a half years its organisation covered almost the whole country. The "Ant" also maintained international relations taking an active part in Hungary’s foreign trade. A part of its documents perished during the siege of Budapest. In 1947 both co-operatives merged into the Hungarian National Centre of Co-operatives.

Finding aids: Repertories to the pre-1945 material of co-operatives and agricultural companies. The fonds of post-1945 marketing boards and consumers’ co-operatives contain only some centimetres of documents.

Commercial Enterprises

1895–1992

The fragmented fonds of commercial enterprises cover almost every branch of foreign and internal trade.
Part of the enterprises specialised in the trade, export or import, of a certain group of goods (for example the Singer Sewing-machine Co.). The rest of the companies focused on the trade with a particular country (e.g. Hungarian Brazilian Trade Co.). The more significant companies circulated a wide range of goods.

Among the nationalised foreign trade companies which were created at the end of the 1940s, the AGRIMPEX Hungarian Agricultural National Company, the BUDAVOX Telecommunications Foreign Trade Co. and the ELEKTROIMPEX Electrical and Precision Engineering Company have the most significant fonds.

The post-1945 nationalisation of internal trade companies began with the creation of önational enterprises”. From among the internal trade companies established subsequently, the Furniture-warehouse Company, the MOBIL Vehicle and Autospares Trade Company, the Hungarian Stamp Trade Company and the Co-operative Bookseller Company have a considerable archival material.

Transportation Companies

1846–1985

The fond group of transportation companies consists of 36 fonds including the fonds of railway transportation, riverine and marine transport, road transportation of passengers and goods as well as a very small material of air transportation.

The fond of Narrow-gauge and Suburban Railway (HÉV) corporations contains the records of 160 railway companies. The Directorate of Hungarian Royal Railways was established in 1869 by the fusion of three already nationalised lines. The railway network of the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) was formed by taking lines, constructed and maintained by private companies, into public ownership. The presidential (1875–1949), "small" (vice-president) presidential (1920–1946) and confidential (1888–1949) records as well as the protocols of directorial meetings of the MÁV are valuable historical documents.

Finding aids: Contemporary finding aids and repertory (except general records).

The most significant domestic shipping company was the Hungarian Royal Riverine and Maritime Transport Corporation.

The post-1945 period is represented by the fonds of several transportation companies. The scope of activities of the Hungarian State Railways Road Transportation Company (MÁVAUT) was confined exclusively to local (point-to-point) transportation of passengers. The Domestic Commercial Transportation Company as well as the VOLÁN Trust also belonged to the most significant transportation companies of the period.

Planning and Investment Companies

1948–1990

The fonds of planning and investment companies contain the material of such firms as the General Building Design Company, the Building Equipment and Electrical Design Office, the Chemical Engineering Design Company as well as the Agricultural Planning and Investment Company.

Finding aids: Repository registers.