1809
The first person ever to consider the establishment of an ironworks that would use the hydropower of the Ostravice River and exploit the local resources of black coal was the Scottish metallurgical expert John Baildon at the very beginning of the 19th century. He himself failed to implement his plans but the idea was developed by Franz Xavier Riepl, professor at the Vienna Polytechnic, who managed to convince Rudolph von Hapsburg, the Archbishop of Olomouc and future investor, of the prospective benefits of the project.
1828
Rudolph von Hapsburg, the Archbishop of Olomouc, issues a memorandum in which Riepl and Franz Kleinpetr, manager of the Frýdlant ironworks, are commissioned with the establishment of the new ironworks.
1830
The first puddling furnace at Rudolf’s Foundry in Vítkovice is ignited..
1835
The Vítkovice Ironworks, which subsequently becomes the main supplier of Ferdinand’s Northern Railway, is leased on a long-term basis to the Viennese banker Salomon Mayer Rothschild.
1840
The first steam engines begin to replace hydropower.
1843
Rothschild buys the Vítkovice Ironworks from the archdiocese for 321,000 florins.
1847
The Siemens company (Werner von Siemens) is founded.
1850
The mechanical workshops are redeveloped into an engineering plant and department for the construction of bridges and boilers. The first wheel tyres for wagon wheels are manufactured.
1858
The first bridge structure for the bridge over the Elbe River in Litoměřice is made at Vítkovice.
1876
Paul Kupelwieser is appointed directorgeneral. Among other things, he builds the copper works and the tube rolling mill, introduces the manufacture of armour plating for warships and turns Vítkovice into a city unique not only for its distinctive architecture, but also its advanced social amenities.
1879
The Linde company (Karl von Linde) is founded.
1897
The first central power station is put into operation.
1901
The US Steel company (Andrew Carnegie – J.P. Morgan) is founded.
1905
The Kobe Steel Works (Japan) are founded.
1906
Commencement of the manufacture of high-pressure steel cylinders.
1910
The first gears are made at Vítkovice.
1920
The boiler shop manufactures the Bamag system watersealed gasholders.
1922
The Vítkovice Ironworks are fully electrified.
1928
Vítkovice celebrates its one hundredth anniversary and the Alstom company (France) is founded.
1930
Commencement of the installation of the Mannesmann roller mill in Mariupol (USSR).
1932
Construction of a two-storey, 234-m-long bridge across the Old Dnieper River in Kiev, and a swing bridge over the Milgravis in Riga, both designed at Vítkovice.
1934
Construction of a giant spherical gasholder for the Prague Municipal Gasworks in Libeň.
1944
The Vítkovice Ironworks are hit by the US air raid on Ostrava. The strategic importance of the enterprise for war production is evidenced by the fact that a faithful copy of it was built in the fields near Opava in order to confuse Allied bombers.
1945
The Ministry of Industry issues Decree No. 206, on nationalisation, effective from October 27, 1945.
1952
The Southern Plant is separated from the Vítkovice Ironworks, thus giving rise to the Klement Gottwald New Ironworks (NHKG).
1957
Casting of the first vacuum-cast ingot. Making of the first built-up shaft.
1967
The structure of the Ještěd TV tower and mountain hotel is made at the bridge production plant.
1968
Commencement of the production of water towers.
1970
Completion of the delivery of the century – quarto 3.6 for the USSR.
1972
Completion of a giant homogenisation and unloading facility for the Port of Santana in Brazil.
1974
Delivery of boilers for the Chvaletice and Tušimice power plants. Winning of a contract for an extrusion plant in Riesa.
1978
Making of the first components for nuclear power plants (steam generators and pressurisers).
1988
Delivery of the turbine shafts for the Gabčíkovo hydroelectric project. Completion of the steel structure for the TV transmitter at Prague-Žižkov.
1992
Foundation of the VÍTKOVICE joint-stock company (January 31).
1994
A piping conduit is delivered to Pakistan, with a diameter of 7.9 metres and a length of 500 metres, which is entirely installed inside a rock.
Completion of the first phase of construction of CTR at Nelahozeves, 4 tanks with a capacity of 50,000 m3.
1998
The Marian bridge, built on piles, the steel structure of which, weighing 3,500 t, was made at the Vítkovice bridge production plant, is naugurated in Ústí nad Labem.
1999
Delivery of a grab ship unloader of bulk materials for Sollac in Saint Louis de Rhone, with a weight of 1,040 t, height of 65.5 metres and an
eighty-metre-long jib at the level of 37.5 m.
2001
The company seals a contract for the delivery of three largecapacity oil tanks, with a total volume of 375,000 m³, for the Nelahozeves facility.
2003
LAHVÁRNA OSTRAVA acquires a majority ownership interest in VÍTKOVICE, a.s., changing its name to VÍTKOVICE HOLDING, a.s. the next year.
2004
Completion of the delivery of the roof for the Olympic stadium in Berlin. Delivery of 600 steel shafts for wind power plants in Denmark.
2006–2010
Delivery of new boiler equipment for the refurbished Prunéřov and Tušimice power plants.
2007
Construction of the hangar at the Mošnov Airport, with a unique lifting of a 1,400-t steel roof structure. Manufacture of the ten millionth steel cylinder.
2008
Opening of a new line for the production of steel cylinders by extrusion.
2011
Commissioning of a forge for the third millennium featuring a line of radial fast-forging machines.