Ferdinand Piatnik

Ferdinand Piatnik ( born October 14, 1819 in Oven, † July 20, 1885 in Vienna) was an Austro- Hungarian card painter and founder of the Vienna Spielkartenfabrik Ferd. Piatnik & Söhne.

Biography

Piatnik graduated in oven (now Budapest) an apprenticeship with playing cards maker Johann Gravatz and put 1839 trade test in Bratislava from. By rolling he came to Vienna and started to work in the mapmakers workshop of Anton Moser ( 1784-1842 ). After the death of Anton Moser, he took over the business and married the widow. As of 1843, the operation was held under Ferdinand Piatnik.

Piatnik developed playing cards motifs such as the Vienna vedutas - Tarot with street scenes and views from the third quarter of the 19th century and the so-called " double Germans" with mirror images of each other standing half-length figures of Schiller's " Wilhelm Tell", which were very successful. In 1882 he participated his two older sons Ferdinand (1857-1930) and Adolf (1859-1940) in the operation and renamed the company " Ferdinand Piatnik & Söhne " around.