The paper is concerned with the significant contribution of a Viennese Czech, Ing. Karel Hazura (1859–1941), vice-director of the Money Printing Works of the Austro-Hungarian Bank in Vienna, to the creation of the first Czechoslovak state paper money issued from 1919 onwards and to the establishment of the Czechoslovak Money Printing Works in Prague. The paper draws on hitherto unknown archive sources and is a revealing contribution to the history of the origin of the first Czechoslovak paper money.
The text deals with the forming process of the Czechoslovakian currency in period after the declaration of Czechoslovakian independent state in 1918. The healthy Czechoslovak currency could be established thanks to capable Czechoslovak finance minister Dr. Alois Rašín by seclusion from the inflationary Austrian-Hungarian currency. Between 1919 and 1920 the first nine denominations of the first issued bank notes were printed in various print houses, issued and named the Czechoslovak koruna (Crown, Kč). The study widely describes problems related to security of the paper notes.
The article presents the reminiscences of the 1970’s to 1990’s by two prominent historians of the textile industry in the Czech lands – Dr. Jaroslav Šůla and Pr. Vladimír Wolf. In those years they were both actively involved in the historical research of the textile industry in the Czech lands, primarily in the East Bohemian region. They were both among the important organizers of the science world – among editors and authors of many scientific publications, studies and anthologies, in particular the Flax industry (periodical, est. 1976) and its supplement (since 1981). Their memories are concluded with the early 1990s which, however, put an end to the scientific stations studying the history of the textile industry and also terminated the publishing of the Flax Industry magazine including its supplements.