City lightning

The people of Križevci can be proud that the first electric light bulb was lit in their city shortly after the first light bulb in the world was lit, back in 1912. To the citizens of Križevci, electric light was donated by the City Lightning Križevci. Curiosity is that Munjara had a telephone number 32, from the beginning of its work, which was introduced in Križevci even before electricity.

In Križevci, an initiative was launched for the electrification of the city during the time of Mayor Pomper, when in 1911/1912. year, the city government decided to build a city lightning. A tender has been announced for its construction and procurement of equipment. The most favorable bidder in the tender was “Ganz” from Budapest, and after the contract was concluded, the Ganz Commission went to the field, which established the most favorable place for the construction of the lightning rod. All the necessary criteria for the construction of the lightning rod were met by a place halfway from the Railway Station and the cemetery, a hundred meters from the bank of the Vrtlin stream. Namely, one hundred meters was enough to cool the heated water to the confluence with the stream, so as not to harm the living world in the stream.

In addition, next to the selected site for the construction of the lightning rod was a peat bog, which guaranteed the stability of groundwater. The site intended for the construction of the lightning was located in the lowlands, which guaranteed the noise congestion of the plant. The lightning shop consisted of an engine room, a room for storing batteries and an oil storage tower, which was raised so that the oil would naturally supply the machines. The storage had a capacity of ten thousand liters of oil, which was delivered in barrels. Around the reservoir was water as an insulator against temperature changes and as protection against possible explosions. There was also a mechanical workshop in the building and three apartments for staff (on the ground floor for an electrician and an engineer, and on the first floor for a lightning manager).

There were three Ganz diesel engines in the engine room, with a total power of 120 hp and two with 80 hp each. They powered three dynamo machines (approximately 150 kVA). There were also two units, with a power of approximately 8 hp each, which were powered by dynamo machines. The generators were used to charge the rechargeable battery, which supplied the city network during the repair of machines or when there was low electricity consumption in the city.

When the Križevci City Lightning started producing electricity in 1912, kerosene public lighting was replaced by tungsten filament lamps in lanterns. The only manager was Antun Horvat, who managed its work from 1912 to 1945. The chief engineer of Munjara was Dragutin Novak. With the arrival of alternating current, in 1941, the plants of Munjara were shut down, and its name was changed to “City Lightning Network Križevci”. Today, Munjara is a protected monument of industrial architecture.

Skip to content