Jan Felkl (20 May 1817 – 7 October 1887) was a Czech globe maker and industrialist. He came from

Banín Banín () is a municipality and village in Svitavy District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 300 inhabitants. Banín lies approximately south of Svitavy, south-east of Pardubice, and east of Prague Prague ( ; ...

, but settled in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

where he got to know cartographer and globe maker Václav Merklas. Merklas soon after gifted his tools to Felkl, who set up his own workshop in the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

of Prague in the early 1850s. Felkl's company grew rapidly and was eventually to become the most important and internationally most well-known globe manufacturing firm of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. In 1870 the factory for the manufacturing of Felkl's globes relocated from Prague to the nearby town of

Roztoky Roztoky (; ) is a town in Prague-West District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,100 inhabitants. Etymology The name is derived from , i.e. 'divided stream'. It is a common Czech geographical name for places fo ...

. By 1873 it produced 15,000 globes annually and, by 1877, in 17 languages. After Jan Felkl's death, the company continued to produce globes until 1952, when it closed due to setbacks suffered from market loss after the

dissolution of Austria-Hungary The dissolution of Austria-Hungary was a major political event that occurred as a result of the growth of internal social contradictions and the separation of different parts of Austria-Hungary. The more immediate reasons for the collapse of the ...

, legal conflicts,

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 installation of the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

, and not least stiffening competition.

Early life

Jan Felkl was born on 20 May 1817 in

, in what is today the Czech Republic but was then the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

. He was the son of an ethnic German farmer. His interest in

globe A globe is a spherical Earth, spherical Model#Physical model, model of Earth, of some other astronomical object, celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but, unlike maps, they do not distort the surface ...

making was supposedly born when he was a conscripted soldier in the Imperial Austrian Army, and had a superior whose hobby was globe making. With the military he came to

, where he after his discharge found a job working for the postal service and settled in

Hradčany Hradčany (; ), is the district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic surrounding Prague Castle. The castle is one of the biggest in the world at about in length and an average of about wide. Its history stretches back to the 9th century. St ...

. In Prague he got to know cartographer , who had made the first Czech-language globe in 1848. Merklas soon thereafter took up a teaching position and abandoned further attempts at globe making, and therefore gifted his tools to Felkl in 1849. Felkl moved to the

in 1850 and only began producing his own globes sometimes after this. They were initially copies of Merklas' models with diameters of , and , respectively. Two friends from his military days helped Felkl set up his workshop. He formally founded a globe making company in 1854.

Globe manufacturing

The business grew rapidly. In 1855, the firm produced 800 globes annually; by 1873 it had expanded to 15,000 globes annually. Felkl employed a simple manufacturing technique, whereby

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

globes were moulded in brass moulds, onto which printed and initially hand-painted paper slips were attached. Later, some globes would also be made of cardboard. With the introduction of colouring by

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

, as opposed to by hand, production costs went down further. The printing was done in Prague but from the outset also in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. With the rapid growth of the company, in 1870 the factory for the manufacturing of Felkl's globes relocated from Prague to the nearby town of

. At that time, the company employed around 24 people. Felkl also set up his own lithographic printing office in Prague 1873. In the same year, at the

1873 Vienna World's Fair The 1873 Vienna World's Fair () was the large world exposition that was held from 1 May to 31 October 1873 in the Austria-Hungarian capital Vienna. Its motto was "Culture and Education" (). History As well as being a chance to showcase Austro- ...

, Felk's globes were awarded the first prize, and the next year one of the German-language versions of the globes was approved for use in primary and secondary schools in

. This was followed by an approval in 1879 to use a Czech-language version in Czech-language schools. Felkl's son entered the company in 1875 as his father's business partner, whereafter the firm was known as "Felkl & Son". The firm had its heyday in the 1890s. At its peak, it was the most important and internationally most well-known globe manufacturing firm of Austria-Hungary. It dominated the domestic market and exported thousands of globes. Though his first globe models were with text in Czech, early on he began printing and manufacturing globes in German, which opened a larger market. Felkl thereafter soon expanded to producing globes in other languages as well, using translations from the German-language globes. By 1861 Felkl produced globes in English, Dutch, Hungarian, Polish and Russian. By 1877, Felkl's company offered globes in 17 different languages. Already in 1855, Felkl also produced a

celestial globe Celestial globes show the apparent positions of the stars in the sky. They omit the Sun, Moon, and planets because the positions of these bodies vary relative to those of the stars, but the ecliptic, along which the Sun moves, is indicated. ...

, which he had developed with the aid of the director of the Prague observatory, Joseph Böhm. Felkl also cooperated with others in producing his terrestrial globes, including German geographer (who aided Felkl in designing a

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

globe) and Czech statistician , who collaborated with Felkl on finding the right terminology for the Czech globes. Apart from globes, the company also produced a range of other instruments such as telluria and orreries. Jan Felkl married Maria Anna Jakob and the couple had nine children. He died on 7 October 1887. After his death, the company continued to operate and remained a family business. Production stood still between the advent of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1914 and 1921. The

after the war meant that the domestic market vanished. The company had a second period of success after 1924, when it pioneered selling illuminated globes. However, legal conflicts,

, the installation of the

, and not least stiffening competition led to its decline. The company formally closed in 1952.

References

Citations Sources * * * * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Felkl, Jan 1817 births 1887 deaths Globe makers Czech geographers Czech industrialists People from Svitavy District Czech people of German descent