As an apprentice foundryman, Ábrahám Ganz travelled all over Europe. In 1842, he started working in Hungary in the József Roller Mill, which was founded by István Széchenyi, and which was the first domestic roller mill and one of the most modern of its time. During the War of Independence of 1848-1849, he was commissioned by the government to cast cannonballs, for which he was court-martialled after the Hungarian defeat, but was acquitted on account of his Swiss citizenship.