Emil Kolben: The Czech Nikola Tesla (Part 3)

While on a Jewish vacation with KRC in Central Europe, we don’t just focus on the places we go to. We also put emphasis on the stories of people who have made their mark  in the history of the region. When travelling with us, one such story you will come across is the one of Emil Kolben.

Emil’s Expansion

At the time of Kolben's return to Bohemia, a large investment was planned in Prague - the construction of a municipal power plant. As in America, there has been much debate between DC and AC supporters. Frantisek Krizik, "Czech Edison", promoted the DC system, while professors Domalíp and Puluj recommended a three-phase system.

 Kolben took part in this discussion, and he won with his company in the competition announced in 1898. Early in the same year 1898, Gerben's daughter was born to Kolben, and four years later, daughter Lilly. Soon they moved to the so-called Red Villa in Hradešínská Street in Vinohrady.

Kolben's firm grew rapidly. Within three years, the number of employees rose from the original 25 to 400. Originally, it supplied mainly motors, generators and crane drives. In 1898 the company with the support of Živnostenská banka became a joint stock company and since 1899 it has been named Electrotechnická akciová společnost, formerly Kolben et al. He added modeling, foundry, forge, and a power plant.

Kolben’s Continuous Success

In 1900, the company produced its first locomotive and built a complete power plant in Holešovice. At the World Exhibition in Paris it won the gold medal for a thousandth alternator. In the following year, production of steam cylinders and turbines was commenced. A year later, two alternators with a diameter of 7 meters were produced for the London power plant. In 1907, EAS concluded a contract with Ringhoffer plant to build a Praga plant.

By 1910, EAS had supplied around 10,000 electrical machines and equipment for 70 large power plants, including substations, not only in Europe but even in Tasmania. In 1912, EAS equipped the hydroelectric power plant at Stvanice in Prague. On the basis of licensing arrangements and personal relationships with Oerlikon, in 1910, the Austrian-Hungarian Railways offered electrification of the Prague node with a 10 kV 16 Hz system (1/3 of the 48 Hz frequency used at that time). This offer has remained unanswered.

In 1919 Schwechater Kabelwerke GmbH established a branch in Vysočany. One of its shareholder was Kolben. In 1921 the company was relocated to Hostivař and Kolben took over the majority stake. This is how the Prague Cable House, s. R., with the trademark PRAKAB, later Kablo Hostivař, was established.

Kolben was not just a successful entrepreneur. He was also the owner of a large intellectual property-- the license for which was purchased by major electrotechnical companies. In addition, he wrote many works on heavy-current electrotechnics and its introduction into practice. In 1896 he published his article Turning in the Mechanical Industry by Developing Electrical Engineering. His treatise on the influence of silicon on the electrical and magnetic properties of iron from 1909 is still up to date.

Kolben also received a social award. In 1908, The German engineering school in Prague awarded him an honorary doctorate. Emperor Franz Joseph I awarded him the Order of the Iron Crown.  In 1911, his former boss, T. Edison, visited Prague at the invitation of Emil Kolben. In 1912 he became chairman of the Land Union of Engineering Industry in the Czech Kingdom and in 1919 a member of the Czechoslovak State Trade Council.

Such was the prosperity in Emil Kolben’s life. His achievements have a big influence in Czech Jewish history and beyond that you can see when you go on a kosher tour to the country.

However, all things must come to an end—even Emil Kolben’s successful life--as we will discover in Part 4.

Emil Kolben: The Czech Nikola Tesla  (Part 1)
Emil Kolben: The Czech Nikola Tesla  (Part 2)
Emil Kolben: The Czech Nikola Tesla  (Part 4)