The Sugar Refinery


Touring The Sugar Refinery.

In the 19th century, the base of Trnava’s economy was formed by agriculture, trade, and gradually developing industry. The first large-scale industrial company in the town was the sugar refinery. The sugar refinery’s presence in Trnava goes back to the year 1838, when the Vaymári brothers founded the first sugar beet processing company on Hlboká Road. However, because they were not able to modernize the business, production stagnated and was terminated after thirty years of existence. Shortly afterwards, in 1868, a new sugar refinery was established thanks to a foreign joint-stock company with a minority of local businessmen. After their bankruptcy in 1876, Baron Augustín Stummer from the Rotschild financial group became its new owner. The refinery’s modernization and extension after being damaged in a fire in 1899, led to an intensification and increase in production in the following years, up to such a level that the Trnava sugar refinery was included amongst the biggest food-processing businesses within the Kingdom of Hungary. After World War I, the owner had the ambition to extend the refinery’s facilities as far as Kamenná Road, which did not happen in the end. Most of the refinery’s employees were seasonal farmers growing sugar beets in the surrounding area. The environment of the Trnava sugar refinery, and the life of minor yeomen during the economic crisis, became the inspiration for Peter Jilemnický, who was temporarily working at a local school, to write the novel, Kus cukru (Piece of sugar). The refinery was named after him during the socialist era. The railway, via which the sugar travelled to the Balkans and from Trieste harbour further to England and India, was an important part of the international trade. The transport of sugar from the refinery to the town railway station was ensured by a railway factory-siding along Trnávka brook. A small steam locomotive called “ducky” from the end of the 19th century, which is nowadays displayed at Trnava railway station, is a reminder.

The Sugar Refinery
 

Contact

The Sugar Refinery
Šrobárová ulica
917 01 Trnava

GPS:
N 48.38206891787513 / E 17.58124040000007

 
 
 

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