Thepartnershadatfirstgreatdifficultiestoencounteringettingtheirestablishmenttowork。Oberzellwasaruralvillage，containingonlycommonlabourers，fromwhomtheyhadtoselecttheirworkmen。Everypersontakenintotheconcernhadtobetrainedandeducatedtomechanicalworkbythepartnersthemselves。Withindescribablepatiencetheytaughttheselabourerstheuseofthehammer，thefile，theturning-lathe，andothertools，whichthegreaternumberofthemhadneverbeforeseen，andofwhoseusestheywereentirelyignorant。Themachineryoftheworkshopwasgottogetherwithequaldifficultypiecebypiece，someofthepartsfromagreatdistance，——themechanicalartsbeingthenataverylowebbinGermany，whichwasstillsufferingfromtheeffectsofthelongcontinentalwar。
Atlengththeworkshopwasfittedup，theoldbarnofthemonasterybeingconvertedintoanironfoundry。
Ordersforprintingmachinesweregraduallyobtained。ThefirstcamefromBrockhaus，ofLeipzig。Bytheendofthefourthyeartwoothersingle-cylindermachineswerecompletedandsenttoBerlin，foruseintheStateprintingoffice。Bytheendoftheeighthyearsevendouble-cylindersteampresseshadbeenmanufacturedforthelargestnewspaperprintersinGermany。TherecognisedexcellenceofKoenigandBauer’sbook-printingmachines——theirperfectregister，andthequalityoftheworktheyturnedout——securedforthemanincreasingdemand，andbytheyear1829thefirmhadmanufacturedfifty-onemachinesfortheleadingbookprintersthroughoutGermany。TheOberzellmanufactorywasnowinfullwork，andgaveregularemploymenttoabout120men。
Aperiodofconsiderabledepressionfollowed。AswasthecaseinEngland，theintroductionoftheprintingmachineinGermanyexcitedconsiderablehostilityamongthepressmen。Insomeoftheprincipaltownstheyenteredintocombinationstodestroythem，andseveralprintingmachineswerebrokenbyviolenceandirretrievablyinjured。Butprogresscouldnotbestopped；theprintingmachinehadbeenfairlyborn，andmusteventuallydoitsworkformankind。Thesecombinations，however，hadaneffectforatime。Theydeterredotherprintersfromgivingordersforthemachines；andKoenigandBauerwereunderthenecessityofsuspendingtheirmanufacturetoaconsiderableextent。Tokeeptheirmenemployed，thepartnersproceededtofitupapapermanufactory，Mr。Cotta，ofStuttgart，joiningthemintheadventure；andamillwasfittedup，embodyingallthelatestimprovementsinpaper-making。
Koenig，however，didnotlivetoenjoythefruitsorallhisstudy，labour，toil，andanxiety；for，whilethisenterprisewasstillinprogress，andbeforethemachinetradehadrevived，hewastakenill，andconfinedtobed。Hebecamesleepless；hisnerveswereunstrung；andnowonder。Braindiseasecarriedhimoffonthe17thofJanuary，1833；andthisgood，ingenious，andadmirableinventorwasremovedfromallfurthercareandtrouble。