Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon was a Swiss engineering company based in the

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...

district of Oerlikon known for the early development of

electric locomotives An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas ...

. It was founded in 1876 by the industrialist Peter Emil Huber-Werdmüller, and occupied a large site immediately to the west of Oerlikon railway station. In 1906 the armaments business was demerged to form ', which evolved into the technology company

OC Oerlikon OC Oerlikon is a listed technology group headquartered in Pfäffikon ( Schwyz), Switzerland. The name "Oerlikon" (or "œrlikon", as the company styles itself according to its corporate identity) comes from the Oerlikon district in Zurich where ...

and the armaments company

Rheinmetall Air Defence Rheinmetall Air Defence AG is a division of German armament manufacturer Rheinmetall, created when the company's Oerlikon Contraves unit was renamed on 1 January 2009 and integrated with Rheinmetall's other air-defence products. Oerlikon Contra ...

(formerly ''Oerlikon Contraves''). In 1967 Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon was taken over by

Brown, Boveri & Cie Brown, Boveri & Cie. (Brown, Boveri & Company; BBC) was a Swiss group of electrical engineering companies. It was founded in Zürich, in 1891 by Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown and Walter Boveri who worked at the Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon. In 19 ...

, which in 1988 merged with

ASEA ''Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget'' (English translation: General Swedish Electrical Limited Company; Swedish abbreviation: ASEA) was a Swedish industrial company. History ASEA was founded in 1883 by Ludvig Fredholm in Västerås a ...

to form

ABB Group ABB Ltd. is a Swedish- Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company was formed in 1988 when Sweden's Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland's Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to crea ...

The site of the company's works has been redeveloped, including the innovative public

MFO-Park The MFO-Park is a public park in the Oerlikon quarter of the Swiss city of Zürich. The area to the north of Zürich Oerlikon railway station was once home to the extensive works of ''Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon'' (MFO), as site that has now been ...

. In the second decade of the 21st century, a project was initiated to expand Oerlikon railway station, with the provision of two additional platform tracks on north-western side of the station. This affected the site of the former office building of ''Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon'', dating from the late 19th century and now a restaurant complex known as ''Gleis 9''. Because of its cultural importance to the region, plans to demolish the building were rejected, and instead the building was moved to the west on specially laid tracks. The move took place in May 2012, and took 19 hours.

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External links

* ABB Locomotive manufacturers of Switzerland Electrical engineering companies Manufacturing companies based in Zürich Manufacturing companies established in 1876 Swiss companies established in 1876 {{Industry-company-stub