Zvuky Prahy / Sounds of Prague

On the way to the river in Komořany, in front of a small factory for processing oil waste, we heard a loud rumbling sound coming from two silver aluminum tanks next to the road. The picture shows a view through the gate into the yard of the factory, which may belong to the former Modřany Engineering Works, where a railway led, still there. Cold-rolled strip iron, gas pipes, pressed goods, spare parts for bicycles and oxygen and propane-butane bombs were produced there. During the First World War, the factory was under military supervision and prisoners of war worked there. After the war, the company was expanded and in 1919 a brickyard for limestone bricks was built in Komořany. After the death of the founder, Karl Schulz, in 1932, the company went into crisis and went bankrupt in 1933. By 1936, the company was without an owner and Dr. Schreiner from Zbraslav became the bankruptcy administrator. In 1936, František Pánek bought the factory, resumed production and renamed the company the František Pánek Pipe and Cold Rolling Mill Factory. They produced drawn, profiled and gas pipes, nails, screws, drawn wire and technical gas. During the Protectorate, the factory produced for the war industry and during the May Uprising, the Modřany factory became a strategic point for the SS troops during the siege of Modřany. Komořany is one of the best places for swimming in Prague and you can meet swimmers there even in winter.