A Hajdú-Bihar Megyei Levéltár évkönyve 25. 1998 (Debrecen, 1998)
Tanulmányok - Szűcs Ernő: Kefegyárak Debrecenben
286 Szűcs Ernő: Kefegyárak Debrecenben Ezzel egy újabb színfolt tűnt el Debrecen ipari palettájáról. Egy olyan gyár hagyta abba működését, amely feldolgozott nyersanyagát döntően a város mezőgazdaságából tudta beszerezni. Az elmúlt években az érc- és szénbányáktól távollévő városban egymásután semmisültek meg olyan üzemek /szalámi gyár, malmok, bőrgyárak/amelyek a város mezőgazdasága által nyújtott alapanyagokra támaszkodtak, azokat dolgozták fel. Kiesésük korántsem csak Debrecen iparának, hanem mezőgazdaságának is kárt okozott. Sajnálatosan olyan nagyságrendű üzemekkel történt ez meg, amelyek valamikor a világpiacon képviselték városunkat. Brush factories in Debrecen trno bzucs The author of the study traces the history of brush manufacturing in Debrecen back to 1862. He gives account of Pál Knoll’s workshop, which began as a handicraft-level enterprise and later developed into a factory. The next establishment was Armin Falk’s manufacture, which later, as a joint stock company, incorporated Knoll’s workshop. Then the firm built in Szoboszlay Street a factory, (which was demolished in our days). In 1887 a workshop was built by József Stern at 6 Böszörményi Str. There arose a competition between the two works, both of which produced their goods for export. The winner of the competition was Falk’s company, and by 1928 Stern’s factory was closed down. Following World War I several smaller brush factories were founded in the city, but they soon went bankrupt. The Falk firm, under the sponsorship of the Hungarian General Credit Bank developed into the largest brush factory of the country. After the nationalization of industrial works in 1948, in the course of “profile cleansing” several measures, deleterious to the factory, were taken, in consequence the firm was showing deficit. After 1990 the factory was privatized and became a Ltd company, but in 1995 stopped its operation. The closing down of the works was a great loss to Debrecen’s industry, but also to its agriculture, since the majority of the raw material processed in the factory had been purchased in Debrecen or in its environs. The survey of the history of brush manufacturing has given an opportunity to study a number of phenomena related to the age of capitalism, to socialist (nationalized) industrial practice and also to the procedures of privatization.
