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All hungarians have heard about the more than 120-year-old Csepel Works. Now you have the chance to get to know this iconic place and its history! There are 14 industrial monuments and another 30 noteworthy buildings in the Csepel Works.

Stormy decades, world burns, and even though its former light has been worn, it can still be the focus of attention nowadays! It might be a little way out of central Budapest but is well worth the journey to get there and see Budapest from another view.

Csepel (che´pel) is an island, 100 sq miles, 30 miles long, located in the Danube, just south of Budapest, where the Csepel works are located. Originally it was called Weiss Manfréd Steel and Metalworks operated as a factory, named by its founder Manfréd Weiss.

The "Manfréd Weiss Steel and Metal Works", (or colloquially "Csepel Works") operated on a 250 hectares estate, & was one of the largest machine factories in Hungary & the second largest industrial enterprise in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.

It played an integral role in the heavy industry and military production of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy producing all types of equipment, from airplanes, aircraft engines, tanks, land cruisers and other military equipment for the army.

During World War I, the workforce exceeded 30,000 and by the outbreak of World War II, the company had become a modern industrial conglomerate, with over 40,000 employees.

It was on this island that the largest Hungarian motorcycle factory, affiliated with the “CSEPEL Steel and Metal Company”, began building motorcycles in 1932, under the label of “CSEPEL”. The iconic Csepel brand was used until 1951, however, until production ended in 1975, they produced motorcycles and scooters under the names Csepel, Tunde, Panni, Danuvia, White, and Pannonia.

As a preparation for the bombing of Allied forces, six large capacity and nine smaller bunkers as well as two hospital bunkers were built in 1943-1944 at Csepel Works. The bunkers were able to accommodate and provide shelter for up to 20.000 workers. Air raids in Budapest started on 3 April 1944 and the fiercest bombing was on 27 July 1944, when most buildings of the Manfréd Weiss Factory were destroyed.

In the 1990's the company’s assets were privatised, & currently hundreds of ventures operate on the area employing 6-8,000 people. Famous bicycle manufacturers such as Neuzer or Gepida are still operating in the Csepel Works.