Page 83 - Mellinato, Giulio, and Aleksander Panjek. Eds. 2022. Complex Gateways. Labour and Urban History of Maritime Port Cities: The Northern Adriaticin a Comparative Perspective. Koper: University of Primorska Press.
P. 83
The Rijeka Trading Company
ters, glaziers, blacksmiths, stablemen, masons, and stokers also testifies
to the Company’s additional activities (Kobler 1896, 87–9). Besides those
who worked in Rijeka, some of them worked in the smelters in Tarvisio
and in the mines of coal that they transported to Trieste via Famlje and
Škofije. They also worked on the little boats used for transporting coal to
Rijeka, as well as in the warehouses in Trieste, Karlovac, and in the east-
ern branches, in Baja and Timişoara and Sibiu (Hermanstadt).
When the Company’s defined 25-year term expired, its Privilege was
renewed on 23 January 1775 for another 25 years and in 1800 for anoth-
er 4 years (Kobler 1896, 87–9). In 1808, Emperor Francis I of Austria ex-
tended the privilege to 1814 with the condition that the Company, whose
centre remained in Rijeka, continued to be called the Privileged Company
of Trieste and Rijeka and that it was under the supervision of a governor.
The foundation of the new Company – born as if the old one had
never existed – changed the ownership structure in some way, but did
not damage it (Hoffmann 2006, 49). Some of the shareholders withdrew
and were paid off, whilst others invested in the new Company. This was
the period of the best business, despite the fact that the “new” Company
no longer had a monopoly over the production of sugar and despite the
fact that many new sugar refineries appeared at this time and that sugar
ceased to be an exclusive commodity. At its peak, the Company had about
1,000 workers and intended to triple its production to 60,000 cents. It
also intended to increase the number of workers. Counting the families
of the workers, it planned to support 12,000 people.
The end of the Company and the port of Rijeka
In the year 1800, the life of the Company was extended for a further 4
years, and then again until 1814. The greatest difficulties began during
the Napoleonic Wars – in 1812 almost all the workers were dismissed,
and subsequently, the owners in Antwerp were shaken by the founding
of Belgium and the severing of the strong ties of Antwerp with Austria.17
At the same time, the Rijeka Company extended into the nearby ar-
eas and in Central Europe more and more new sugar factories were built.
The basic raw material and technology soon changed too – the production
of sugar from beets began.
17 The Company was completely abolished in 1826. The last director, Livino Massart,
sold off the estate and movable property over the next few years.
83
ters, glaziers, blacksmiths, stablemen, masons, and stokers also testifies
to the Company’s additional activities (Kobler 1896, 87–9). Besides those
who worked in Rijeka, some of them worked in the smelters in Tarvisio
and in the mines of coal that they transported to Trieste via Famlje and
Škofije. They also worked on the little boats used for transporting coal to
Rijeka, as well as in the warehouses in Trieste, Karlovac, and in the east-
ern branches, in Baja and Timişoara and Sibiu (Hermanstadt).
When the Company’s defined 25-year term expired, its Privilege was
renewed on 23 January 1775 for another 25 years and in 1800 for anoth-
er 4 years (Kobler 1896, 87–9). In 1808, Emperor Francis I of Austria ex-
tended the privilege to 1814 with the condition that the Company, whose
centre remained in Rijeka, continued to be called the Privileged Company
of Trieste and Rijeka and that it was under the supervision of a governor.
The foundation of the new Company – born as if the old one had
never existed – changed the ownership structure in some way, but did
not damage it (Hoffmann 2006, 49). Some of the shareholders withdrew
and were paid off, whilst others invested in the new Company. This was
the period of the best business, despite the fact that the “new” Company
no longer had a monopoly over the production of sugar and despite the
fact that many new sugar refineries appeared at this time and that sugar
ceased to be an exclusive commodity. At its peak, the Company had about
1,000 workers and intended to triple its production to 60,000 cents. It
also intended to increase the number of workers. Counting the families
of the workers, it planned to support 12,000 people.
The end of the Company and the port of Rijeka
In the year 1800, the life of the Company was extended for a further 4
years, and then again until 1814. The greatest difficulties began during
the Napoleonic Wars – in 1812 almost all the workers were dismissed,
and subsequently, the owners in Antwerp were shaken by the founding
of Belgium and the severing of the strong ties of Antwerp with Austria.17
At the same time, the Rijeka Company extended into the nearby ar-
eas and in Central Europe more and more new sugar factories were built.
The basic raw material and technology soon changed too – the production
of sugar from beets began.
17 The Company was completely abolished in 1826. The last director, Livino Massart,
sold off the estate and movable property over the next few years.
83
