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

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and today's

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

. It is famous for the

Tatra T3 The T3 is a type of Czech tramcar produced by ČKD Tatra. A late-2000s study conducted on the Prague tram system has shown 98.9% reliability, the best of the Prague tram system fleet. During its period of production between 1960 and 19 ...

, a

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

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, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

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 (from ) 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 infin ...

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 ...

double overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where 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 combustion cha ...

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 good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

BD, thus perpetuating the Breitfeld-Daněk identity. In 1929 ČKD sold its motorcycle business to

Praga Hostivař Praga is a manufacturing company based in Prague, Czech Republic. The company produced Car, automobiles, karts and Airplane, planes. The Praga V3S 5-ton truck was used by the Czechoslovak Army for more than half a century. History Praga was ...

, 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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, 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 ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

. 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 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 Germany following the annexation of Cze ...

– and the

Jagdpanzer 38(t) The ''Jagdpanzer'' 38 (Sd.Kfz. 138/2), originally the leichter Panzerjäger 38(t), known mostly post-war as ''Hetzer'', was a German light tank destroyer of the Second World War based on a modified Czechoslovakian Panzer 38(t) chassis. German ...

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 usually refers to pri ...

and became one of the world's leading producers of

s. These were produced 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 Škoda means ''pity'' in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to: Czech brands and enterprises * Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav ** Škoda Motorsport, the division of Škoda Auto respons ...

until Škoda began manufacturing its own such equipment. ČKD Tatra also manufactured

metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

cars and diesel

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

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

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and given a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

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 the ...

) 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 Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

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. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

, mainly in former countries of

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. In 1994 the company was

privatized Privatization (also 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 when ...

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 debt ...

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

Siemens Mobility Siemens Mobility GmbH is a separately-managed company of Siemens, arising from a corporate restructuring effective 1 August 2018. With its global headquarters in Munich, Siemens Mobility has four core business units: Mobility Management, dedi ...

's Czech subsidiary, ''Společnost kolejových vozidel'' (SKV),"Siemens invests in Czech Republic". ''

Tramways & Urban Transit ''Tramways & Urban Transit'' ''(TAUT'' or ''T&UT)'', also known as ''Modern Tramway'', is a British monthly magazine about tramways and light rail transport, published continuously since 1938. Its content is orientated both to tramway enthusi ...

'', 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 st ...

. finalized in February 2002.

Products

Trams

Standard trams (T)

* T1 * T2 * T3 ( T3R, T3RF) * T4 * T5 ( T5A5, T5B6, T5C5) * T6 ( T6A2,

T6A5 Tatra T6A5 is a unidirectional high-floor Czech streetcar made for public transport in Europe and is one sub-type of T6 standard trams made by Czech light rail supplier Tatra ČKD in Prague. Five cities, namely Bratislava, Košice in Slovakia a ...

, T6B5, T6C5) * T7 ( T7B5)

Articulated trams (KT, RT)

* K1 * K2 * K5 * KT4 (

KTNF6 The Tatra KTNF6 is a modernized tram, type KT4, rebuilt with a central low-floor segment. These types of tram cars are used in Cottbus, in Brandenburg City and Schöneiche-Rüdersdorf, Germany, and in Tallinn, Estonia (as ''KT6T''). Another simi ...

) * KT8D5 ( KT8D5N) * RT6 ( RT6N1, RT6S) * RT8D5

Trailers (B)

* B3 * B4 * B6A2

Metrocars

*R1

Locomotives

* BS-80 narrow gauge steam locomotive *

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

Tanks

* Tančík vz. 33 tankette *

AH-IV The AH-IV was a Czechoslovak-designed export armored fighting vehicle, classed as either a tankette or light tank,Axworthy, p. 35 used by Romania during World War II, but having also been acquired by neutral Sweden and Iran. Modified AH-IV versi ...

tankette *

St vz 39 ST vz. 39, also known by its factory designation V-8-H, was a Czechoslovak medium tank developed by ČKD in the late 1930s. Only two prototypes were ever built. Design and development In the fall of 1937 a competition was launched for a new ...

medium tank * LT vz. 34 light tank * LT vz. 38 light tank

References

External links

ČKD Group
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ckd Companies of Czechoslovakia Manufacturing companies established in 1927 Rolling stock manufacturers of the Czech Republic Tram manufacturers 1927 establishments in Czechoslovakia Electric vehicle manufacturers of Czechoslovakia