We have been facing many changes since
1896 but one thing is permanent: our
willingness to be open to ideas.
Turning great ideas
into reality is our
heritage.
The real asset of Tungsram has not
Zoltán BayWorld-renowned physician, head of Tungsram research laboratory, 1936-1948
been her machines, but always
its knowledge and good
reputation.
Established as
United Electric
Ltd.
The 2nd industrial revolution, the electrification of the world is the true beginning of our story. The United Electric Ltd. was founded as joint stock company. In 1906 the name was changed to United Electric and Incandescent Ltd. (= Tungsram)
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96
19
06
A disruptive
innovation
As a first globally, the production of tungsten wire
lamps started. At the time this was what we would
call today a disruptive industry.
Tungsram name
and brand was
registered
Registration of the TUNGSRAM brand
name (TUNGSten + WolfRAM, the
English and German name of the wire
used in the lamps)
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09
19
17
Enter the radio
First radio valves for telephone and radio sets of the Austro-Hungarian Army, research and development for commercial use from 1922.
The first industrial
research
laboratory in
Hungary
The new CEO (Lipót) Leopold Aschner
entrusts Professor Ignác Pfeifer with the
foundation of Tungsram Research
Laboratory, a future home of Tungsram’s
innovations of global significance. In 1936
Zoltán Bay, Professor for theoretical physics
at the university in Szeged becomes the
director of the laboratory.
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21
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27
The foundation of the
Lighting Engineering
Station.
Tungsram was the main sponsor of this institution which
spread knowledge about lighting, contributed to setting
norms and standards for lighting so as to planning the
floodlighting of Budapest.
Great-crystal filament
The great-crystal tungsten filament,
developed by Tivadar Millner and Pál
Tury made incandescent lamps and
radio valves more resistant.
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31
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29
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32
Discovery of the
krypton lamp
Krypton lamps developed by Imre Bródy (Tungsram) and Michael Polányi (Berlin & Manchester). Lamps filled with krypton gas give clear, bright, sun-like light. Besides the lamps themselves, Bródy and Polányi developed
a method to extract the extremely rare krypton gas from the air. Tungsram built a factory with adjacent power plant to generate krypton gas just before WWII – an early example of what we would call an ecosystem.
The global
presence of the
"Tungsram family"
Tungsram had become a global lighting producer, it had factories in 10 countries, sales to 65 countries. Lipót Aschner was among the first to recognize the importance of employee well-being and offered generous opportunities for the “Tungsram family”.
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38
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46
The Moon radar
experiment.
Professor Zoltán Bay successfully sent radar waves to the Moon. All this in a country devastated by the war, and less than a year after the Soviet army completely dismantled the central Tungsram factory in Újpest.
This is said to be the beginning of space exploration in Hungary.
Foundation of the Vacuum - Technological Machine Building Factory
Tungsram developed and delivered complete machine lines of a growing degree of automatization to socialist countries, France or the USA. Tungsram delivered turn-key factories to and provided initial plant operation management in developing countries.
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51
19
60's
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89
The decades of socialism
Beyond lighting: Tungsram developed TV valves, theater lighting electronics, semi-conductors, lasers for industrial and medical purposes as one of the biggest export company in Hungary during the Socialist decades.
Tungsram bought by General Electric
This was the first large-scale privatization in Central Eastern Europe during the regime change. In a few years, GE became the sole owner of Tungsram and invested heavily into modernizing its production technology.
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89
20
02
Budapest became center of GE Lighting Europe
From the mid 1990-s production capacities were gradually transferred from European and US production sites to Tungsram. From 2002, GE Lighting’ sales in Europe, Middle East and Africa were coordinated from Budapest.
Foundation of Tungsram Group
Tungsram, an iconic name returned to the global market as an innovative, premium European brand with the management buyout of GE Lighting’s Europe, Middle East, Africa and Turkey general lighting business along with the global automotive operation by Joerg Bauer, former President of GE Hungary.
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18
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21
Welcome to the first R&D purpose vertical farm of Central Europe
An R&D purpose vertical farm unique in Central Europe was opened in the Budapest HQ of Tungsram. The installation, which is based on technology evoking sci-fi movies, and a sign of the company’s new strategy, is one of the key factors for the food security of the future.
More about
Tungsram's journey
Get familiar with the details of our more than a century long
history.
TÁJÉKOZTATÁS // INFORMATION
(for English scroll down, please) Tisztelt Hitelezők! Tekintettel arra, hogy sajnálatos módon az adós csődegyezségi…
Build a bright
and smart future
with us!
Take an active part in changing our world for
the better! Contact us to let the journey begin!
