Esztergom Coal Loader (Esztergomi Szénrakodó), Hungary

The Esztergom coal loader (Hungarian: Esztergomi szénrakodó) is a rusting relic located in the Danube River of Hungary, near the border with Slovakia. Nearly 100 years old, this abandoned industrial structure once played a key role in Hungary’s coal distribution network. Today it is a ramshackled hulk. A slowly disintegrating skeleton of concrete and rusted steel succumbing to time and the elements.

My visit to photograph the Esztergomi szénrakodó (2024)

I visited the coal loader in 2024, on the second half of my cross-border Hungary & Romania Road Trip. Arriving with some apprehension, uncertain if my equipment could adequately capture the beauty of this rusty relic. From satellite views, I knew that the coal loader was far from the shoreline. Without a boat, I would have to shoot from the shingle beach.

For my abandoned places trips I carry only wide-angle lenses and my 50mm, having had no space to bring one of my telephoto lenses. Still, with some tricks up my sleeve, I made the best of what I had. What was the trick? I utilised the crop mode on my full-frame camera to increase the 50mm lens’s equivalent to 75mm. By doing this I ekedout a little more reach (at the cost of, perhaps, a slight dip in quality). It worked well enough, and overall I am pleased with how the shots turned out.

History of the Esztergom Coal Loader

Constructed in 1927, the coal loader dates back to a period of industrial expansion and modernisation. It is located at river kilometre 1721.5 on the Danube, near the ferry port that connects Esztergom (Hungary) to Štúrovo (Slovakia). The loader was designed to transfer coal from the Dorog coalfields onto river barges. This imposing steel structure built on concrete foundations is 5.7 km from the coal mine.

The cable car system transported the coal from the Dorog coal mine to the upper level of the Esztergom coal loader. From there, a team of three or four workers managed the unloading process. They lowered each cart from the cable car system and emptied the coal into metal chutes, which directed the load straight into the holds of waiting ships below. The loading area included a storage hall of nearly 200 m². This system allowed workers to keep a stockpile of coal on hand, reduce waiting times, and maintain a steady loading pace. At full capacity, the coal loader could move up to 1,000 tonnes of coal per day, making it a key point in the region’s industrial transport network.

Coal transport by barge ended in 1963, and workers dismantled the overhead cable system that once delivered coal from Dorog. The Esztergom coal loader fell into disuse. In 1994, the site surprisingly caught the eye of a group of artists. They set up a foundation, with plans of transforming the structure into a creative retreat suspended over the river.

Currently, there is little indication that the plan will ever come to full fruition. The foundation estimates it will cost 50-60 million forints just to stabilise and preserve the structure. Decades later, the interest has seemingly faded, and this mass of metal continues to rust away year by year.