PUH, Janez (PUCH, Johann)

P. was born on 27th June as the seventh child of a poor family. At the age of 12 he started his training as a locksmith at Ptuj and completed his apprenticeship in Radgona when he was 15. He then upgraded his skills in Maribor, Bad Radkerburg, Graz and Vienna.
In 1882 he was called into military service and joined the artillery in Graz. At that time the very first bicycles from England were arriving in the country and they instantly stirred his interest. In 1885 after the completion of his military service he was employed as a mechanic in the Graz-based Luschneider workshop, where he fixed bicycles. Later, he worked with the master Albl, where, in addition to sewing machines, they also assembled bicycles and he became a foreman. At this time he designed the first bicycle with equally-sized wheels and a chain drive from the pedals to the rear wheel.
In 1989 he left Albl and went to visit the bicycle exhibition in Leipzig. Following his return from Germany, he opened in Graz his first workshop Johann Puch & Co, where in the autumn of the same year, the first bicycle was manufactured. P's bicycles rapidly became popular both among users as well as athletes; in the 1895 Bordeaux - Paris race Franz Gerger from Graz set a world record with one of P's bicycles. In 1897 the workshop was purchased by the German Dürrkoppwerke.
In 1899, P. established in an old mill in Graz the Erste Steiermaerkische Fahrrad¬fabrik, Johann Puch, A. G. and started with the serial production of bicycles. In 1901 he bought himself his first motorcycle, and in 1906 his plant manufactured a two-cylinder motorbike with which Nikodem won the Gordon-Bennett races in France.
In 1903 the plant assembled their first car. P's cars, renowned for speed and robustness, won the strongest international competitions, including the Semmering mountain race (1907), Vienna Berlin military race (1908) and Prince Heinrich race (1908/09). The most popular was the Puch Model VIII with 10 to 28 kW engines manufactured between 1913-23. P. also became involved in the field of airship design and made the engine for the first Austrian dirigible, Estaric I.
Following a heart attack in 1912, he resigned from the director's position in his plant. At his death a year later, the company with about 1,100 employees manufactured 16,000 bicycles, 300 motorcycles and 300 cars. In 1928 the company first merged with Austro-Daimler and in 1934 with the Steyr company into Steyr-Daimler-Puch A. G.