H. Cegielski – Poznań S.A. is a Polish manufacturing company from the city of

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

. The company is locally known as ''Ceglorz'', and since 1923 has also used the HCP symbol. After the fall of communism, Cegielski became a

joint stock company A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...

. Currently it has several international certificates ( ISO 9001,

ISO 14001 ISO 14000 is a family of standards related to environmental management that exists to help organizations (a) minimize how their operations (processes, etc.) negatively affect the environment (i.e. cause adverse changes to air, water, or land); (b ...

). In 1994 it received a Golden Medal during the

Poznań International Fair The Poznań International Fair (PIF, pl, Międzynarodowe Targi Poznańskie, MTP) is the biggest industrial fair in Poland. It is held on the Poznań fairground in Poland. Poznań International Fair is located in the centre of the city opposite t ...

History

The company was founded by

Hipolit Cegielski Hipolit Cegielski (6 January 1813, Ławki – 30 November 1868, Posen (Poznań), Kingdom of Prussia) was a Polish businessman and social and cultural activist. He founded H. Cegielski – Poznań in 1846. References * Witold Jakóbczyk Wit ...

in 1846 in

. It grew from a small workshop in the Hotel Bazar to a large factory, first fixing and later building

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

mechanical tools and vehicles, steam tractors,

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s and

railroad car A railroad car, railcar (American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is 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 ...

s and

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

equipment. In 1869 the company was already producing its own steam engines and had over 300 workers. In 1880 Hipolit's son, , renamed the company to "Factory of Agricultural Machines and Equipment H. Cegielski in Poznań" (''Fabryka Machin i Urządzeń Rolniczych H. Cegielski w Poznaniu''). In 1889 it was transformed from a family business into a

privately held company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

and the name changed to "H. Cegielski Stock Company in Poznań" (''H. Cegielski Towarzystwo Akcyjne w Poznaniu''). The company was constantly growing, employing 490 people in 1917, 990 in 1920 and over 5000 in 1923, although the

Great Crisis The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion ...

forced it to downsize and slow production. In the late 1930s the company also branched into producing military equipment (artillery guns and anti-aircraft search lights). During the

Second World War 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 confiscated and turned over to

Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken ''Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken Aktiengesellschaft'' (German Weapons and Munitions public limited company), known as DWM, was an arms company in Imperial Germany created in 1896 when ''Ludwig Loewe & Company'' united its weapons and amm ...

and Cegielski's factories were used to produce various equipment for the German war machine.

After World War II

After the war, the communist government of the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

, renamed (in 1953) the company to the "Joseph Stalin Metal Works in Poznań" (''Zakłady Metalowe im. Józefa Stalina w Poznaniu'', ''ZISPO''). In 1956 the

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...

which began at Cegielski's factory and several other major factories in Poznań led to the first of massive protests against the communist government, known as the Poznań 1956 protests. After the protests and the resulting political thaw the company regained its original name: H. Cegielski Metal Industry Complex in Poznań, National Enterprise (''Zakłady Przemysłu Metalowego H. Cegielski w Poznaniu, Przedsiębiorstwo Państwowe''). In the 1950s the company also stopped producing steam engines, instead acquiring Western licences for

marine engines Marine propulsion is the mechanism or system used to generate thrust to move a watercraft through water. While paddles and sails are still used on some smaller boats, most modern ships are propelled by mechanical systems consisting of an electri ...

, e.g. for Sulzer diesel engines as used in the MS ''Mikhail Lermontov''. After the fall of communism, Cegielski became a

. Currently it has several international certificates ( ISO 9001,

). In 1994 it received a Golden Medal during the

Notable projects

HCP PKM-NATO

Poland was a member of the Warsaw Pact when it dissolved in 1991. In the early 1990s, as part of their preparations to join NATO, the Polish armed forces began looking for a replacement for the PK-series machineguns they had in service. Cegielski proposed a prototype (code-named PKM-NATO) that modified the PK/PKS to feed standard 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges and use NATO-standard ammo belts. The modifications included a heavier barrel, a larger chamber, and a redesign of the lock, extractor, and the entire feeding mechanism. The prototype was tested from 1997 to 1999, but was eventually rejected. Instead, the Polish Army adopted the

UKM-2000 The UKM-2000 (''Uniwersalny Karabin Maszynowy'', "Universal Machine Gun") is a 7.62×51mm NATO general-purpose machine gun designed and manufactured by Zakłady Mechaniczne Tarnów in Tarnów, Poland. Development On March 12, 1999, Poland join ...

machine gun - which was also based on the PK.

References

*"Dzieje Poznania" tom 2 cz. 1 i 2; ed.

Jerzy Topolski Jerzy Topolski (20 September 1928 – 21 December 1998) was a Polish historian specializing in economic history, history of material culture, the early modern period, and theory and methodology of history. Member of Polish Academy of Sciences, p ...

and

Lech Trzeciakowski Lech Trzeciakowski (24 December 1931 – 7 January 2017) was a Polish historian who served as director of the Western Institute (''Instytut Zachodni'') in Poznań from 1974 to 1978. Born in Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta i ...

, PWN, Warszawa-Poznań 1994 i 1998 *"Kronika miasta Poznania", "Wilda, dzielnica Poznania 1253-1939", Magdalena Mrugalska - Banaszak, Wydawnictwo Miejskie, Poznań 1999 *"Wielkopolski Słownik Biograficzny" wyd. II, ed. Antoni Gąsiorowski and Jerzy Topolski, PWN, Warszawa-Poznań 1983

External links

Existing steam locomotives built by H. CegielskiEnglish language homepage
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cegielski - Poznan Companies based in Poznań Companies established in 1846 Locomotive manufacturers of Poland Privately held companies Polish brands 1846 establishments in Prussia Engineering companies of Poland Manufacturing companies established in 1846 Companies set up in the Second Republic of Poland