PIATNIK playing cards - a long tradition

The playing card manufacturing company, Ferdinand PIATNIK & Sons , in the 14th district of Vienna (229-231 Hütteldorferstrasse) goes back to a card painting business that was founded by Anton Moser as early as 1824. In 1843, after Moser`s death, the business was taken over by Ferdinand PIATNIK, who worked already in the company and married Moser`s widow. In 1882, Ferdinand´s three sons, Ferdinand, Adolf and Rudolf, joined the business, known from then onwards as FERD. PIATNIK & SONS. In the course of the 19th century what used to be a traditional crafts shop gradually became an industrial enterprise.

For the past 180 years the company has been run by members of the PIATNIK family. The art of card manufacturing has been handed down from generation to generation, from the traditional craft of card painting to the highly technological manufacturing process that is used today. This long tradition guarantees the standard of excellence that has come to be associated with the name PIATNIK around the world.

Efforts to expand led to the foundation of several production sites and a paper mill in the former provinces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, these were lost after the two World Wars. In the 1950's PIATNIK started exporting to other European countries and later also overseas.

From 1950 onwards the PIATNIK product range has been continuously increased so that today it includes games and puzzles. Despite keen competition, the traditional Viennese enterprise succeeded in becoming the Austrian market leader in the field of family games and games for adults. To give one example, in 1992 the experts at PIATNIK developed 'ACTIVITY', which turned out to be a real success story. Even eight years after ist launch, 'ACTIVITY' is one of the most frequently bought games in Austria. Sales figures look equally promising in Germany, Switzerland and the USA. So far this modern classic has been translated into five different languages and exists in more than 15 different editions.

The strategic expansion policy of the enterprise relies on the fact that PIATNIK products are in demand in every corner of the world. Each year, about 25 million playing cards, one million puzzles and one million games are sold in over 60 countries.

In the 1990's, PIATNIK restructed its business abroad. In 1989, the first subsidiary of the PIATNIK group, PIATNIK OF AMERICA, was founded, later to be joined by PIATNIK DEUTSCHLAND GmbH in Mönchengladbach (1993), PIATNIK PRAHA sro. in the Czech Republik (1994), and PIATNIK BUDAPEST kft in Hungary (1994).