Building where first car factory in Romania operated to be refurbished

M.A.R.T.A. House in western Arad, the building where the first car and engine factory operated on the current territory of Romania, will be refurbished and introduced in the tourist and cultural circuit, with financing being allocated for the technical-economic documentation, Agerpres reports.

Arad City Hall announced on Tuesday that it has signed a non-reimbursable financing contract with the National Heritage Institute for the technical-economic documentation for the building rehabilitation project under the Historical Monuments Stamp program.

The M.A.R.T.A. House, built between 1900-1910, hosted the first automobile and engine factory on Romania's current territory.

M.A.R.T.A. stands for the acronym for Magyar Automobil Részvény Társaság Arad, which was also the first car factory in the Kingdom of Hungary, established as a branch of the Us company Westinghouse, through the French subsidiary in Le Havre. The company produced various car models, including a local car called "Márta".

Pro Urbe Arad, an association for the protection of urban heritage, writes on its website that the factory exports cars to several European countries, including the UK. In 1913, the factory had 280 employees, and here they produced cars, buses, trucks or engines for railway traction. As of 1915, during the First World War, only aircraft engines were manufactured in Arad, and after the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the union of Transylvania with the Kingdom of Romania, the Astra company was founded - the first Romanian railcars and engine factory. This was achieved through the merger of the Weitzer railcars factory with the Marta factory. In 1926, the manufacture of cars in Arad stopped, and the equipment was moved to Brasov, where Romanian Aeronautical Industry Plant was established.

The M.A.R.T.A. building and the land were recently donated to Arad by the Astra Rail company, the building being on the premises of the freight car manufacturer.