Postai és Távközlési Múzeumi Alapítvány Évkönyve, 2001

Tartalmi összefoglaló angol nyelven

he was appointed chief of the department. In 1925 he became leader of the personnel management department, and in 1928 he was appointed director-general of the Royal Hungarian Post Office, a position he held until his retirement in 1935. In 1934 he became a state secretary. He represented the Hungarian post office in numerous international negotiations (Berlin 1913, Sofia and Vienna 1914) and at conferences (Paris 1920, Oporto 1921, Rome and Budapest 1922, Stockholm 1924, Paris 1926, The Hague 1927, London 1929, Cairo 1934).

He delivered the review being presented at the VIII. Universal Postal Congress of the UPU (Universal Postal Union), in Stockholm in 1924. After reporting on the achievements and innovations heard at the congress to several professional forums, he considered it necessary to share what he had learned from the trip to Stockholm with Hungarian postal society, which was in a period of recovery from war. He wrote about the social, economic, and cultural situation in the militarily neutral country that he described as a civilised foreign nation. In addition, he gave a detailed account of the journey, his reception, accommodations, Swedish dietary customs, persons attending the congress, and its venue, which was the House of Parliament. He commented on the behavioural customs of the Swedes, the country’s education policy, its architecture, geography, ethnography, and the treasures housed in its museums including the Swedish Postal Museum. He voiced the opinion that the international conference had been an opportunity to gain a glimpse into an advanced foreign world, which would enable him to use what he had learned to make improvements within Hungary.

Endre Kolossváry - Pál Balia: Report

In October 1897, Baron Ernő Dániel (1843-1923) Hungarian Royal Minister of Trade sent technical advisor Endre Kolossváry (1858-1938) and royal chief engineer Pál Balia (1864-?) on an official study trip abroad. They were charged with scrutinising North German, Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish telephone equipment. Their actual goal was to prepare for a revamping of the Hungarian telephone network in 1898, to include building telephone equipment and switchboard technology, and to introduce principles and innovations that had proven themselves elsewhere.

The two highly qualified specialists wrote a report on building telephone lines, and constructing and operating switchboards, based on their very accurate observations. They formed their opinions by commenting and comparing what they saw, country by country, deciding on the best ways to handle the domestic project, based on both economic and technological considerations. Their section on line construction includes the materials to be used for the lines, and details of constructing aboveground lines and underground cables. The switchboard section includes a comparison of horizontal and vertical switching cabinets, difficulties in managing them, various innovations to reduce the difficulties, and performances. In handling the switchboards, they investigated signalling systems, operator capacities, the speed and quality of the service, and possibilities of using the lines for both telegraphs and telephone, to take better advantage of capacities.

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