Rudolf Schmidt & spol. file factory

   
In the past, the border between Bohemia and Moravia ran through the territory of Jihlava. Towards the centre, one can still find the pyramid-shaped terminus with a lion and an eagle from the times of Maria Theresa by the Polish sculptor Václav Viktor Morávka. It stands on private land, but is visible from Polenská Street through the fence. Three more identical termini are located in Sokolovská, Pávovská and Heroltická Streets. On the Moravian side, at the nearby weir on the left bank of the Jihlava River, there used to be Hölzl’s mill. The mill gave rise to the name of the originally separate village of Dřevěné Mlýny (Wooden Mills). The village does not exist any more, the area is part of the town of Jihlava now, but a number of factories and establishments were built there in the past thanks to the access to the watercourse. One of them was the historic string shop, for which the buildings that now belong to the file factory were built.

Besides potatoes, flax was also widely grown in the Vysočina Region. The interests of producers from Vysočina were defended by the Association of Czech Flax Growers(Svaz českých lnářů); under its banner, the Cooperative for the Improvement of the Linen Industry (Družstvo pro zvelebení lnářského průmyslu) was established in 1908. Its chairman was František Staněk (1867–1936), who was also politically involved in the affairs of the linen guild. A year later, a workshop building was built on the road to Polná to process raw material. The designer of the building, Eduard Thym (1856–1931), who came from Dvůr Králové, designed a single-storey oblong building divided by three partitions into working halls; a hackling room, a spinning room, a smoothing room, and a ball room. This building is still standing today. The wooden truss with a number of gable skylights is supported by riveted steel columns and girders with a span of 3.4 × 6 metres. An extension with three arched windows and Art Nouveau elements in the gable adjoined the workshops on the east side. The extension housed a horizontal steam engine with an output of 150 HP, purchased from Ringhoffer's machine works in Prague. The boiler house with two boilers and a chimney was built on the north side of the extension. On the other side of the workshop building was a caretaker's house with offices, designed additionally by Ludvík Kovář, a builder from Dačice. Proportionally, the appearance of the gable and the details on the façade replicated the eastern engine room. The building was also extended on the north side. The details of the façade, including the bossage, are still visible today, and the original fenestration of the office extension and the engine room as well as the side entrance to the western part of the premises have been preserved too. The newly built string shop was ceremonially opened on 17 July 1910. The undertaking was perceived by the public as proof of the very successful activities of the Cooperative for the Improvement of the Linen Industry (Družstvo pro zvelebení lnářského průmyslu). Ten years later, however, production stagnated and the building was purchased by a new owner who completely changed the activities carried out in the workshops.

Rudolf Schmidt (1864–1928) founded the company Rudolf Schmidt & spol. in the Viennese suburb of Favoriten in 1892. He focused on the production of files and rasps made of metallurgical steel and sold under the brand Kotva. His products were made by factories in Vienna, Düsseldorf, Česká Skalice, and Cikánka at the Svratka River. The Jihlava factory, purchased in 1920, opened up an opportunity to expand production. The construction changes were made according to the designs created by the Jihlava builder Jan Knorr. The workshops were converted into a forge, an annealing room, hardening room, cutting room, and file grinding room. The forge was newly equipped with Ajaxspring hammers designed and built by the company. In 1939, the joint-stock company Ajax was founded, which managed the entire production during the Second World War. After nationalisation in 1948, the national enterprise Tona Jihlava expanded the premises and modernised the production. The company became the most important and largest supplier of files in the country.

In 1996, AJAX & Blundell a.s. was founded, opening up business routes all over the world. In 2012, the shares were purchased from Mr Blundell and the name was changed to AJAX PILNÍKY, a.s. The company still makes files and rasps of the highest quality and of many types today. In production, it pays attention to the use of high-quality materials and top quality craftsmanship using modern technologies, and keeps improving and expanding its range of products. The products have found customers almost all over Europe, South America, Australia, and Asia.

MP
Literature and other sources 

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