History up to year 1927
17th century
The beginnings 
of the Blansko ironworks date back to the end of the 17th century (circa 1698) and its establishment was linked with the work of styrian metallurgist Jan Ondřej Sinapi, who at the end of the 17th century attempted to apply his skills in several ironworks in Moravia. Sinapi was commissioned to set up an iron mill, i.e. an ironworks on the Blansko estate by the estate’s owner, Arnošt Leopold of Gellhorn, who purchased the estate in 1664 from the Lev brothers of Rožmitál for 55,000 quid. In the second half of the 17th century the Gellhorns were one of the richest families in Silesia, where they owned several estates, including Petřvald and Rohov (3). At that time, several of their Silesian and Tesin estates contained ironworks, so it is natural that the Gellhorns tried to make the most of this major source of revenue and "geological/ mineralogical/historical predetermination" (author’s note).
18th century
Thus, in 1702 (the first written record of the existence of the Blansko ironworks – an extensive facility, the report 
written as the estate of the deceased Arnošt Leopold of Gellhorn) there was a charcoal smelter, two finery with sledgehammers and other manufacturing equipment. The easily accessible iron-ore deposits, the deep forests providing material for the production of charcoal and the very important source of water (the river Punkva) provided a good basis for a generally flourishing business. At the end of the 1750s, however, the Gellhorn family got into serious difficulties and, what is more, the owner of the Blansko estate, Karel Josef Gellhorn – a colonel in the imperial army – spent more time as a guest at Blansko than as its landlord, leading to the heavily indebted estate being sold in 1766 for the sum of 100,694 gold pieces to Antonín Karel Josef, the Count of Salm. In 1766 the Salms already owned the neighbouring Rajec estate and the purchase of the Blansko estate meant that they had now amalgamated a good-sized complex of land, the individual parts of which complemented each other very well from an economic point of view. The Blansko estate remained in the hands of the Salms for 130 years and this was the time that brought its greatest prosperity.
In 1769 the then owner of the Blansko and Rajec estates, Antonín of Salm, died, and his property passed to his two young sons, František Xaver and Karel Josef of Salm. Until they reached legal age, the estate was run by their mother, Rafaela of Salm. In 1773 Karel Josef of Salm became the sole owner of the combined estates, administering the Salm property until 1807, when he handed it over to his son, Hugo František of Salm (see a brief history of the foundry industry). It must be pointed out that the abolition of serfdom in 1781 and the accession of Hugo František played a decisive role in the prosperity of the Blansko ironworks in the 19th century.
19th century
Immediately after taking control of the Blansko ironworks, Hugo František began to put his expertise and the technical experience he had acquired in the well-established businesses of Europe at that time, into practice. Around 1820 the first steam engine in Austro-Hungary was built. The owner focused his attention particularly on improving the production of charcoal, which was the most expensive branch of the ironworks' output. At that time Ignác Vít Pantz was working in Blansko; in 1812 he built one of the first cupola furnaces in Bohemia here. It was 
only after the end of the Napoleonic Wars that the owner’s plans to convert the ironworks really came to fruition. The ironworks prospered greatly under the “directorship” of Dr. Karl Reichenbach, who was an outstanding metallurgist, geologist and organiser. His leadership brought great success with dry wood distillation. In 1824 the first rolling mill in Bohemia was built in Blansko, and was used to produce black, tin-plated and copper-plated sheet metal. In 1827 “Karl’s Smelting House” was built, and production was launched in “Starohraběcí Smelting House” in 1835. Cupolas were built for all the blast-furnaces, as Reichenbach correctly envisioned the way the production of castings and cast components was moving, and which made the ironworks famous throughout the world.
At that time an engineering plant was also built in the ironworks. It became famous for the production of steam engines, blast-furnace bellows and machine parts. The business also produced water and gas supply pipes (e.g. the water mains for the port town of Trieste), and cast kitchen enamelware. The ironworks were one of the first to start producing artificial castings, which became famous particularly at the industrial exhibition in Vienna in 1835 (e.g. the Colonnade in Mariánské Lázně, Colonnade in Carlsbad, recently, i.e. the 1980s and 90s – The Royal Route in Prague, Telč, Český Krumlov, summerhouse of Žofín, etc.). In 1836 Hugo Ignác of Salm died and his estate was inherited by his son, Hugo Karel. Around 1841 he left the Salms, probably due to disagreements with the new owner of the estate, Dr. Reichenbach. These departures and further technical progress had a great effect on the economic success of the iron works.
As cheaper businesses were entering the market, which used mineral fuels and produced pig iron much more cheaply than was possible using charcoal, construction started on a coke smelter in the “Klam Smelting House” in Blansko. The first production campaign started up in 1857. In 1860 the Blansko ironworks were still one of the largest in Bohemia and Moravia, operating up to nine smelters. In 1873 - 1879 the firm’s success fell into decline.
The growing cost of wood caused an increase in production expenses and the firm’s competitiveness decreased in comparison with companies using mineral fuels. As the blast furnace in the Mariánská smelting house was converted to a coke plant in 1871 – 1873, the operation of Rodold and Hugo’s smelting house gradually ground to a halt. At the beginning of the eighties the furnace at the “Starohraběcí Smelting House” was converted for mixed production. Poor quality coke, made from coal mined in the districts of Polish Ostrava, was often the cause of production problems in the blast furnaces. By now the firm was owned by Hugo Leopold of Salm. In 1893 the “Klam Smelting House” closed down, followed in 1896 by the last smelter, the "Mariánská".
So after 200 years one of the largest and most famous ironworks in the country became an engineering and foundry plant, which purchased pig iron from other businesses.
The firm was mired in economic difficulties and in 1895 a series of workers’ strikes put the firm “in the red”; finally in 1896 there was a change in ownership, when Hugo Leopold of Salm sold the company off to Breitfeld – Daněk, based in Prague.
Till 1927
After the foundry and engineering works were taken over by Breitfeld – Daněk, production boomed. As soon as the bank behind this stock company incorporated the unprofitable Blansko plant into a separate industrial concern, it freed up a previously blocked source of reserve capital. It restored worn-out machinery, installed electricity into the plant, and increased the proportion of mechanisation in the production process. There was a rise in both production and productivity. The Blansko foundry and engineering works were not restricted by the
Austro-Hungarian monarchy, which was preparing to go to war to repartition the world between the superpowers of the time, but actually diversified the foreign trade inherited from the Salms. Thus it was that in 1912 the volume of foundry production reached the level of 18,870 t, an unprecedented amount at that time. After the creation of an independent Czechoslovakia in 1918 the Blansko foundry and engineering works began to take great advantage of the market not only abroad, but also at home. The volume of production dropped by almost half in comparison with the pre-war year of 1913. The output of 1913 was not achieved again until 1927. The number of workers employed by the plant dropped by half in comparison with the figure for 1920. After the First World War, German capital was weakened with the strengthening of Czechoslovakian capital. The Breitfeld - Daněk stock company became dependent on the Czech Živnobanka, which employed financial machinations to force the Breitfeld – Daněk shareholders to merge with the Czech concern Českomoravská - Kolben. This came about at the General Meeting of the firm of Českomoravská Kolben held on 9 July 1927.
17th century
The beginnings of the Blansko ironworks date back to the end of the 17th century (circa 1698) and its establishment was linked with the work of styrian metallurgist Jan Ondřej Sinapi, who at the end of the 17th century attempted to apply his skills in several ironworks in Moravia. Sinapi was commissioned to set up an iron mill, i.e. an ironworks on the Blansko estate by the estate’s owner, Arnošt Leopold of Gellhorn, who purchased the estate in 1664 from the Lev brothers of Rožmitál for 55,000 quid. In the second half of the 17th century the Gellhorns were one of the richest families in Silesia, where they owned several estates, including Petřvald and Rohov (3). At that time, several of their Silesian and Tesin estates contained ironworks, so it is natural that the Gellhorns tried to make the most of this major source of revenue and "geological/ mineralogical/historical predetermination" (author’s note).
18th century
Thus, in 1702 (the first written record of the existence of the Blansko ironworks – an extensive facility, the report written as the estate of the deceased Arnošt Leopold of Gellhorn) there was a charcoal smelter, two finery with sledgehammers and other manufacturing equipment. The easily accessible iron-ore deposits, the deep forests providing material for the production of charcoal and the very important source of water (the river Punkva) provided a good basis for a generally flourishing business. At the end of the 1750s, however, the Gellhorn family got into serious difficulties and, what is more, the owner of the Blansko estate, Karel Josef Gellhorn – a colonel in the imperial army – spent more time as a guest at Blansko than as its landlord, leading to the heavily indebted estate being sold in 1766 for the sum of 100,694 gold pieces to Antonín Karel Josef, the Count of Salm. In 1766 the Salms already owned the neighbouring Rajec estate and the purchase of the Blansko estate meant that they had now amalgamated a good-sized complex of land, the individual parts of which complemented each other very well from an economic point of view. The Blansko estate remained in the hands of the Salms for 130 years and this was the time that brought its greatest prosperity.
In 1769 the then owner of the Blansko and Rajec estates, Antonín of Salm, died, and his property passed to his two young sons, František Xaver and Karel Josef of Salm. Until they reached legal age, the estate was run by their mother, Rafaela of Salm. In 1773 Karel Josef of Salm became the sole owner of the combined estates, administering the Salm property until 1807, when he handed it over to his son, Hugo František of Salm (see a brief history of the foundry industry). It must be pointed out that the abolition of serfdom in 1781 and the accession of Hugo František played a decisive role in the prosperity of the Blansko ironworks in the 19th century.
19th century
Immediately after taking control of the Blansko ironworks, Hugo František began to put his expertise and the technical experience he had acquired in the well-established businesses of Europe at that time, into practice. Around 1820 the first steam engine in Austro-Hungary was built. The owner focused his attention particularly on improving the production of charcoal, which was the most expensive branch of the ironworks' output. At that time Ignác Vít Pantz was working in Blansko; in 1812 he built one of the first cupola furnaces in Bohemia here. It was only after the end of the Napoleonic Wars that the owner’s plans to convert the ironworks really came to fruition. The ironworks prospered greatly under the “directorship” of Dr. Karl Reichenbach, who was an outstanding metallurgist, geologist and organiser. His leadership brought great success with dry wood distillation. In 1824 the first rolling mill in Bohemia was built in Blansko, and was used to produce black, tin-plated and copper-plated sheet metal. In 1827 “Karl’s Smelting House” was built, and production was launched in “Starohraběcí Smelting House” in 1835. Cupolas were built for all the blast-furnaces, as Reichenbach correctly envisioned the way the production of castings and cast components was moving, and which made the ironworks famous throughout the world.
At that time an engineering plant was also built in the ironworks. It became famous for the production of steam engines, blast-furnace bellows and machine parts. The business also produced water and gas supply pipes (e.g. the water mains for the port town of Trieste), and cast kitchen enamelware. The ironworks were one of the first to start producing artificial castings, which became famous particularly at the industrial exhibition in Vienna in 1835 (e.g. the Colonnade in Mariánské Lázně, Colonnade in Carlsbad, recently, i.e. the 1980s and 90s – The Royal Route in Prague, Telč, Český Krumlov, summerhouse of Žofín, etc.). In 1836 Hugo Ignác of Salm died and his estate was inherited by his son, Hugo Karel. Around 1841 he left the Salms, probably due to disagreements with the new owner of the estate, Dr. Reichenbach. These departures and further technical progress had a great effect on the economic success of the iron works.
As cheaper businesses were entering the market, which used mineral fuels and produced pig iron much more cheaply than was possible using charcoal, construction started on a coke smelter in the “Klam Smelting House” in Blansko. The first production campaign started up in 1857. In 1860 the Blansko ironworks were still one of the largest in Bohemia and Moravia, operating up to nine smelters. In 1873 - 1879 the firm’s success fell into decline. The growing cost of wood caused an increase in production expenses and the firm’s competitiveness decreased in comparison with companies using mineral fuels. As the blast furnace in the Mariánská smelting house was converted to a coke plant in 1871 – 1873, the operation of Rodold and Hugo’s smelting house gradually ground to a halt. At the beginning of the eighties the furnace at the “Starohraběcí Smelting House” was converted for mixed production. Poor quality coke, made from coal mined in the districts of Polish Ostrava, was often the cause of production problems in the blast furnaces. By now the firm was owned by Hugo Leopold of Salm. In 1893 the “Klam Smelting House” closed down, followed in 1896 by the last smelter, the "Mariánská".
So after 200 years one of the largest and most famous ironworks in the country became an engineering and foundry plant, which purchased pig iron from other businesses.
The firm was mired in economic difficulties and in 1895 a series of workers’ strikes put the firm “in the red”; finally in 1896 there was a change in ownership, when Hugo Leopold of Salm sold the company off to Breitfeld – Daněk, based in Prague.
Till 1927
After the foundry and engineering works were taken over by Breitfeld – Daněk, production boomed. As soon as the bank behind this stock company incorporated the unprofitable Blansko plant into a separate industrial concern, it freed up a previously blocked source of reserve capital. It restored worn-out machinery, installed electricity into the plant, and increased the proportion of mechanisation in the production process. There was a rise in both production and productivity. The Blansko foundry and engineering works were not restricted by theAustro-Hungarian monarchy, which was preparing to go to war to repartition the world between the superpowers of the time, but actually diversified the foreign trade inherited from the Salms. Thus it was that in 1912 the volume of foundry production reached the level of 18,870 t, an unprecedented amount at that time. After the creation of an independent Czechoslovakia in 1918 the Blansko foundry and engineering works began to take great advantage of the market not only abroad, but also at home. The volume of production dropped by almost half in comparison with the pre-war year of 1913. The output of 1913 was not achieved again until 1927. The number of workers employed by the plant dropped by half in comparison with the figure for 1920. After the First World War, German capital was weakened with the strengthening of Czechoslovakian capital. The Breitfeld - Daněk stock company became dependent on the Czech Živnobanka, which employed financial machinations to force the Breitfeld – Daněk shareholders to merge with the Czech concern Českomoravská - Kolben. This came about at the General Meeting of the firm of Českomoravská Kolben held on 9 July 1927.