ČKD (Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk) () was one of the largest engineering companies in the former

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

and today's

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. It is famous for the Tatra T3, a

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

car that sold 13,991 units worldwide.

History

ČKD was formed in 1927 from the merger of two smaller companies, Českomoravská-Kolben (founded 1896, produced machinery for hydro dams) and Breitfeld-Daněk (founded 1854, produced machinery for mines and food industry). From 1927 until 1929 ČKD's products included a

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

single-

cylinder A cylinder () has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infinite ...

unit construction : ''For the vehicle design where the vehicle's skin is used as a load-bearing element, see Monocoque.'' Unit construction is the design of larger motorcycles where the engine and gearbox components share a single casing. This sometimes includes ...

with

double overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine in which the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combus ...

design of 500cc. It was sold under the

marque A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

BD, thus perpetuating the Breitfeld-Daněk identity. In 1929 ČKD sold its motorcycle business to Praga Hostivař, which re-branded the motorcycles under the Praga marque. It was one of the main suppliers to the Czechoslovak state of military vehicles during the 1930s. During the German

occupation of Czechoslovakia Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the company was renamed BMM (''Böhmisch-Mährische Maschinenfabrik AG'') and manufactured arms for the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

. The company's most notable products in this era were a light tank of the company's own design – the

Panzer 38(t) The 38(t), originally known as the ČKD, Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk (ČKD) LT vz. 38, was a tank designed during the 1930s, which saw extensive service during World War II. Developed in Czechoslovakia by ČKD, the type was adopted by Nazi G ...

– and the Jagdpanzer 38(t) tank destroyer, which was built on the Panzer 38(t)'s chassis. After the war, ČKD was

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

and became one of the world's leading producers of

s. These were produced, initially under license of the American Transit Research Corporation, by its subsidiary company, ČKD Tatra (commonly known as Tatra, when being referred to in connection with trams, but separate from the company Tatra). From the 1930s to the 1950s, ČKD also supplied electrical equipment for several

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

es built by Tatra, as well as ones built by Škoda until Škoda began manufacturing its own such equipment. ČKD Tatra also manufactured metro cars and diesel

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

s, that were exported to other communist countries. One such example from the T-series of Czech locomotives was exported into the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and given a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

designation "ЧМЭ" (

ChME3 The ČKD ČME3 is a six-axle diesel–electric locomotive built by ČKD. The class was used primarily for shunting and mainline duties. With over 8,000 produced during a production run of 31 years, it is one of the most produced locomotives in t ...

) there. In the socialist era ČKD employed up to 50,000 people. After 1989 with worldwide economic and political changes the company lost many of its traditional trade outlets in Central and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

, mainly in former countries of

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In 1994 the company was

privatized Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

by the Czech government and transformed into a holding company. However, new management was unsuccessful and in 1998, ČKD holding was close to

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...

cy. Some companies went bankrupt, while others returned to state ownership through debts to state-owned bank IPB. The state sold some companies separately to new owners, most notably the 2001 sale of the transport company, ''ČKD Dopravní systémy'' (CKD Transportation Systems, known until 1997 as ČKD Tatra or simply Tatra), to ''Společnost kolejových vozidel'' (SKV), the Czech subsidiary of Germany's

Siemens Mobility Siemens Mobility GmbH is a division of Siemens. With its global headquarters in Munich, Siemens Mobility has four core business units: Mobility Management, dedicated to rail technology and intelligent traffic systems, Railway Electrification, ...

,"Siemens invests in Czech Republic". '' Tramways & Urban Transit'', December 2001 issue, p. 462.

Ian Allan Publishing Ian Allan Publishing was an English publisher, established in 1942, which specialised in transport books. It was founded by Ian Allan. In 1942, Ian Allan, then working in the public relations department for the Southern Railway at Waterloo ...

. finalized in February 2002.

Products

Trams

Standard trams (T)

* T1 * T2 * T3 ( T3R, T3RF) * T4 * T5 ( T5A5, T5B6, T5C5) * T6 ( T6A2, T6A5, T6B5, T6C5) * T7 ( T7B5)

Articulated trams (KT, RT)

* K1 * K2 * K5 * KT4 ( KTNF6) * KT8D5 ( KT8D5N) * RT6 ( RT6N1, RT6S) * RT8D5

Trailers (B)

* B3 * B4 * B6A2

Metrocars

*R1

Locomotives

* BS-80 narrow gauge steam locomotive *

locomotive * large switching locomotive * T 466.3 diesel locomotive * T 434.0 locomotive * T 478.3 locomotive * T-669 locomotive

Tanks

* Tančík vz. 33 tankette * AH-IV tankette * St vz 39 medium tank * LT vz. 34 light tank * LT vz. 38 light tank

References

External links

ČKD Group
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ckd Czechoslovak companies established in 1927 Manufacturing companies established in 1927 Rolling stock manufacturers of the Czech Republic Tram manufacturers Electric vehicle manufacturers of Czechoslovakia 2000 disestablishments in the Czech Republic Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2000