Jirasko

Jirasko is one of Austria's oldest continuously operating optician businesses, with a documented history reaching back to 1858. It was founded by Josef Jirasko, who had migrated from Bohemia to Vienna and established a workshop at Margaretenstraße 36 in the Wieden district. The firm began as a maker of telescopes of its own design and microscopes for medicine and biology, and over the generations evolved into a specialist optical retailer and eye-care practice. Under Adolf Jirasko senior the business grew to high repute and was appointed imperial and royal (k.u.k.) court optician to the Viennese court during the monarchy. The twentieth century brought severe disruption: the First World War, the collapse of the monarchy in 1918 and the post-war years hit the company hard, and after Adolf senior's death the business was run by his widow until 1918. His son Adolf Jirasko junior rebuilt it, shifting production mainly to spectacles and pince-nez and discontinuing the manufacture of optical instruments, which were thereafter only traded. Bomb damage in the late 1940s forced the abandonment of the Favoriten branch, and the old Margaretenstraße shop was relocated to the Operngasse in Vienna's first district; much archive material and equipment were lost in the war. Heinrich Jirasko, who returned in 1945 and passed his master craftsman examination in 1951, was an early advocate of contact lenses in Austria. He opened a small shop at Ungargasse 3 in Wiener Neustadt in 1959, added a branch in Neunkirchen in 1967, began selling hearing aids from 1975, and on 1 October 1977 opened the Bahngasse premises in Wiener Neustadt that remains the company headquarters. Since 1 March 1983 the business has been run as a Kommanditgesellschaft after two of Heinrich's sons joined; Heinrich died in October 1984. Today Jirasko is led by brothers Johannes and Claudio Jirasko, both qualified opticians and contact-lens specialists, and has expanded with a branch in the Fischapark shopping centre in Wiener Neustadt (1996) and one in the Augenzentrum Mödling (2002). The company positions itself as a specialist in children's optometry, myopia prevention and contact lenses, combining a long craft heritage with modern optometric services.

The documented history of Jirasko begins in 1858, when a trade register entry records that Josef Jirasko, who had emigrated from Bohemia to Vienna, founded a business at Margaretenstraße 36 in the Wieden district. A workshop had existed before that, but its records are lost. Josef Jirasko, father of three children, passed the business in the male line to his two sons Matthias and Adolf. Adolf Jirasko, born in 1851, continued the business on Margaretenstraße and brought it to high repute, while Matthias died childless. Unlike his father, who had long served as guild chairman of the opticians and worked primarily as an optician, Adolf Jirasko devoted himself increasingly to his own inventions. He developed and manufactured various optical and mechanical devices, including lighting equipment, electrolytic apparatus and induction devices, and took a particular interest in the then-new field of electricity. While under Josef Jirasko mainly telescopes of his own construction and microscopes for medicine and biology were produced, industrialisation shaped the era of his son Adolf. Growing competition from larger workshops forced him to restructure the business fundamentally: he specialised in the making of visual aids and began grinding spectacle lenses independently during his father's lifetime. A training certificate from 1869 confirms that Adolf Jirasko had learned the optician's trade from his father. After years as an assistant and manager, he officially took over the firm in 1890. During the monarchy the owner Adolf Jirasko was a k.u.k. court supplier for optics, and he was appointed court optician to the Viennese court. In 1910 his eldest son, Adolf Jirasko junior, began an optician's apprenticeship in the business. He learned the craft for three years and then went to Berlin, where he worked in an optical-mechanical factory. The First World War, the collapse of the monarchy in 1918 and the post-war years placed severe strain on the company. Adolf Jirasko senior died, and until 1918 the business had to be continued by his widow. The new owner, Adolf Jirasko junior, had two sons, Heinrich and Kurt. The elder son Heinrich also learned the optician's craft in his father's business. He was, however, conscripted into the Wehrmacht during the Second World War, and his father had to run the business without him. Because of severe bomb damage in the late 1940s, the branch in Favoriten had to be abandoned, and the old Margaretenstraße shop was relocated to the Operngasse in the first district, Innere Stadt. Many archive materials and devices were lost through wartime destruction. Heinrich Jirasko returned in 1945. Adolf Jirasko junior shifted production mainly to spectacles and pince-nez; the manufacture of optical instruments was discontinued and they were only traded. With the post-war reconstruction the company was able to recover slowly and regain its pre-war business volume. After his apprenticeship Heinrich Jirasko successfully passed the master craftsman examination before the Viennese opticians' guild in 1951. He was an early advocate of the contact lens, which was still in its infancy. After training in Germany he began selling them. On completing his professional training, he and his father founded a civil-law partnership (Gesellschaft nach bürgerlichem Recht), with the junior partner taking over the technical side of the business. Over time Heinrich took on more and more areas of the business. In 1959 he bought a small shop at Ungargasse 3 in Wiener Neustadt. In 1967 a further branch was established in Neunkirchen. In 1969 the Ungargasse shop was enlarged, and from 1975 hearing aids were also sold. On the death of Adolf Jirasko junior in 1975 the company passed into the sole ownership of his son Heinrich. The provisions of the trade regulations made it necessary for the contact-lens optician to establish a separate place of business in Wiener Neustadt in order to practise his trade, and so on 1 October 1977 he opened his fourth branch in the Bahngasse, today's company headquarters. Heinrich Jirasko held several offices; in the opticians' section of the Chamber of Trade he was section chairman responsible for the districts of Neunkirchen and Wiener Neustadt. After the section formed itself into an independent provincial guild, he became one of its founding members. His most important area of activity within the provincial guild was contact-lens care. Heinrich Jirasko had three sons, of whom Johannes and Claudio learned the optician's craft. Johannes Jirasko passed his master craftsman examination in 1981 as one of the youngest, and on 24 February 1984 passed the contact-lens concession examination at the HTL for Optometry in Hall, Tyrol. From 1 March 1983 the company was continued as a Kommanditgesellschaft because two of his sons had joined. In October 1984 Heinrich Jirasko died. On 29 June 1988 Claudio also passed his optician's master examination at the HTL for Optometry in Tyrol and afterwards the examination as a contact-lens optician. The company, jointly led by Johannes and Claudio Jirasko after their father's death, continued to expand: in September 1996 a further branch was opened in the Fischapark shopping centre in Wiener Neustadt, and in 2002 one in the Augenzentrum Mödling at Bahnhofsplatz 1a.

• 2002

  A branch opens in the Augenzentrum Mödling at Bahnhofsplatz 1a.

• 1996

  A branch opens in the Fischapark shopping centre in Wiener Neustadt in September.

• 1988

  Claudio Jirasko passes his master optician and contact-lens optician examinations on 29 June.

• 1984

  Johannes Jirasko passes the contact-lens concession examination on 24 February; Heinrich Jirasko dies in October.

• 1983

  From 1 March the company is continued as a Kommanditgesellschaft after two sons join.

• 1981

  Johannes Jirasko passes his master optician examination as one of the youngest candidates.

• 1977

  On 1 October the Bahngasse branch opens in Wiener Neustadt — today's headquarters.

• 1975

  Hearing aids are added to the range; on the death of Adolf Jirasko junior the firm passes solely to Heinrich Jirasko.

• 1969

  The Ungargasse shop in Wiener Neustadt is enlarged.

• 1967

  A further branch is established in Neunkirchen.

• 1959

  Heinrich Jirasko buys a small shop at Ungargasse 3 in Wiener Neustadt.

• 1951

  Heinrich Jirasko passes the master optician examination before the Viennese guild.

• 1945

  Heinrich Jirasko returns from the war; production is refocused on spectacles and pince-nez.

• 1918

  After the death of Adolf Jirasko senior, the business is continued by his widow until the end of the year.

• 1910

  Adolf Jirasko junior begins his optician's apprenticeship in the business.

• 1890

  Adolf Jirasko officially takes over the firm.

• 1869

  A training certificate confirms Adolf Jirasko learned the optician's trade from his father.

• 1858

  Josef Jirasko founds the business at Margaretenstraße 36 in Vienna-Wieden.

Traditional family optician combining 160+ years of craft heritage with modern specialisation in children's optometry, myopia prevention and contact lenses.

• Spectacles and frames

• Contact lenses

• Children's eyewear and optometry

• Myopia prevention

• Hearing aids

• Telescopes and microscopes (historical)

• Optical and mechanical instruments (historical)

1. 1Startseite - Ihr Optiker in Wiener Neustadtjirasko.at
2. 2Über uns - Ihr Optiker in Wiener Neustadtjirasko.at
3. 3Jirasko (company) - Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Jirasko (Unternehmen) - Wikipediade.wikipedia.org