The movers and shakers behind Halle 550.
Realize a great event together.
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The story behind Halle 550
1863
The English engineer and designer Mathew Murray Jackson and Peter Emil Huber, a mechanical engineer, founded the subcontracting firm Peter Emil Huber & Cie in Oerlikon. With the aim of producing inexpensive but high-quality forgings, Huber bought a piece of land near the Oerlikon railroad station in 1863 and had factory buildings built.
1872
The public limited company Daverio, Siewert & Giesker buys the land together with the factories from the young entrepreneur. Peter Emil Huber is elected chairman of the board of directors. The factory mainly produces tools, machines, turbines and the electrical parts of the locomotives. This is also the case for the famous SBB locomotive, the “Krokodil”.
1884-1886
Huber establishes an electrical engineering department and wins Charles Brown Sr. to head it. The factory is renamed Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon (MFO).
1902
The company develops a new type of traction motor for single-phase alternating current, which is installed in locomotives and makes a significant contribution to the electrification of the SBB.
1967
The various inventions and productions help the company to success and growth: MFO employs 199 people in 1879, 3,351 in 1930 and grows to a size of 4,500 employees by 1967.
Today
Today, the MFO Park is a reminder of the place where the old factory hall originally stood. Built in 2002, the MFO structure still enriches the view from Hall 550.
Here are some facts about the MFO Park:
- 100m long, 35m wide, 17m high
- 330t steel, 30km climbing rope
- 103 climbing plant species and varieties
- 1100 plants
1872
The public limited company Daverio, Siewert & Giesker buys the land together with the factories from the young entrepreneur. Peter Emil Huber is elected chairman of the board of directors. The factory mainly produces tools, machines, turbines and the electrical parts of the locomotives. This is also the case for the famous SBB locomotive, the “Krokodil”.
1902
The company develops a new type of traction motor for single-phase alternating current, which is installed in locomotives and makes a significant contribution to the electrification of the SBB.
Today
Today, the MFO Park is a reminder of the place where the old factory hall originally stood. Built in 2002, the MFO structure still enriches the view from Hall 550.
Here are some facts about the MFO Park:
- 100m long, 35m wide, 17m high
- 330t steel, 30km climbing rope
- 103 climbing plant species and varieties
- 1100 plants
