Stage 3: From Sprinklers to History: Discovering Budapest’s Industrial and Cultural Highlights
Michael Poepke | 28. July 2025
On the third day we will be riding in the capital city of Hungary, Budapest. We begin our day with visiting one of our long-time customers, the company Metalfin Atta-Cső Kft.
A Visit to Metalfin Atta-Cső Kft: Leaders in Sprinkler Systems
This company manufactures metal tubings, pipes, fittings, and builds whole complex sprinkler systems for the construction industry. They started as a small company and gradually built up their business. Now, after 30 years, they are the biggest company in the sprinkler system business in Central-Europe and the second biggest in all of Europe!
Not just that, but they also built all the special manufacturing machines with which they are producing their products. For their machines, they use many igus products, including microflizz systems, which have been functioning for 15 years on their machines without breakdown!
After saying goodbye to Metalfin, we take a small tour around Csepel, which is the historical industrial district of Budapest.
Discovering Csepel: Budapest’s Industrial Heart
We wave hello to the Csepel bicycle works, the oldest bicycle factory in Hungary. It started its production back in 1928, and now they are producing the Bubi shared community bikes for Budapest.Maybe later we can bring in some igus parts so that they can use them to build bicycles too.
Cycling Along the Danube: Stunning Views and Iconic Landmarks
Then we cycle along the shore of the Danube River all the way up north to the city center and cross the river on the famous Chainbridge, which is the most famous bridge in Budapest because it was the first-ever permanent bridge built over the Hungarian section of the Danube.
After enjoying the ride across the famous bridge, we change riders and our second rider takes us to the next famous sightseeing point: the Parliament building.
The Parliament Building: A Majestic Neo-Gothic Wonder
In this really majestic neo-gothic building convenes regularly the Hungarian government. The building itself was built according to the plans of Imre Steindl, from 1885 to 1904, and it has 27 entrances.
A Journey Down Andrássy Avenue: Art, History, and Locals’ Favorite Spots
From here we ride through Andrássy Avenue and arrive at the spacious Hero Square, one of the most popular gathering and meeting spots for locals. On the edges of the square, we can find two of the biggest art-related museums in Hungary: the Art Gallery on one side and the Museum of Fine Arts on the opposite side.
Hero Square is located next to one of Budapest’s biggest parks, the City Park, so after the hot sun in the open area, we roll under the shade of the trees.
City Park and the Hungarian House of Music: Blending Nature and Innovation
Here we visit the recently built Hungarian House of Music, a fascinating interactive museum featuring an open-air stage on its side that uses igus e-spools for its moving electronic stage equipment.
Farewell to Budapest: On to New Horizons
Here we say goodbye to the capital of Hungary, and the next day we will continue our journey westward towards one of the biggest lakes in the region.
Our riders:
Krisztian Karasz
My name is Krisztián Karasz and I have been a member of the igus team since 2004. My task is to sell throughout Hungary and to acquire as many satisfied customers as possible who are happy to work with igus.
I really like my job because our products reach all industries and I have encountered countless interesting applications in over 20 years. With a thorough understanding of customer needs and a strategic approach to problem solving, I try to build strong relationships and offer customized solutions that bring success to both igus and its customers. In my opinion, this ensures smooth interactions and promotes long-term partnerships.
The rest of my life is about my family, my 3 sons, with whom I love to do outdoor activities, we play a lot of football, cycle and hike.
Daniel Illy
I’m Daniel Illy from Hungary, and I’ve been working for igus Hungary since October 2013. At first I started in an inside sales position and then after two years I moved to my current Drytech product manager position.
I am giving advices and engineering support for our outside sales people, as well as managing more closely some key accounts with the biggest drytech projects or turnover in Hungary. The job at Igus is challenging as we often encounter problems and applications at customers which they couldn’t solve on their own or with the more usual methods. I really like this about working here, because this way it is never dull.
Outside of work my most loved hobbies are woodworking and cycling, so it is obvious that I couldn’t have passed on an opportunity like this to take part in the igus bike world tour as a rider.
Map of this stage:
