Jos. Stefsky

Jos. Stefsky — today trading as Stickerei STEFSKY e.U. — is an Austrian embroidery and passementerie (Posamentier- und Schnürwaren) business founded in 1823 in Stockerau, Lower Austria. It began as a small workshop set up by the passementier Josef Stefsky and his wife Franziska, producing braids, cords and trimmings for military use, notably shoulder cords (Achselschnüre). Over the nineteenth century the firm expanded into spinning, dyeing and weaving, and became a specialist supplier of military passementerie to the Austro-Hungarian army and uniformed corps. It held the title of k.u.k. Hoflieferant (imperial and royal purveyor to the court) from 1875 and won numerous exhibition awards, including at the Vienna World's Fair of 1873 and the Paris World's Fair of 1900. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries the company evolved from an industrial manufacturer of military trimmings into a modern embroidery workshop. Under the brand Stickerei STEFSKY e.U. it now offers custom embroidery on textiles and promotional items: shirts and workwear, blankets, bags, traditional Tracht accessories, wedding and birthday items, bookmarks, luggage tags, bottle bags, gift packaging, name tapes, and embroidered emblems and coats of arms for institutions such as the Austrian Armed Forces (Bundesheer) and fire services. The official website presents the firm under the slogan "seit 1823 am neuesten Stand" (up to date since 1823), emphasising both its long heritage and its contemporary embroidery services. The business remains a private, family-rooted Austrian enterprise based in Stockerau. Its historical identity is closely tied to the Austro-Hungarian military and court, while its present-day activity is centred on personalised embroidery and textile finishing for private, corporate and institutional customers. The company is a notable example of a long-lived Central European craft business that has repeatedly adapted its product range — from military cords and badges to decorative and promotional embroidery — while keeping its original location and name.

The firm was founded in 1823 when the passementier Josef Stefsky from Krems and his wife Franziska established a simple workshop at Haus Landstraße 34 in Stockerau, then the seat of the Monturs-Hauptkommission (the main military clothing commission). From the outset the business specialised in passementerie and cord goods for military purposes, such as shoulder cords (Achselschnüre), although these provided only periodic employment. In the early 1830s the business was expanded with its own spinning, dyeing and weaving facilities for the production of Kotzen (coarse blankets). As this branch proved profitable, production shifted to finer woollen goods, especially colourful bed covers made on Jacquard looms; however, these could not be sold in sufficient quantities and their manufacture was discontinued. In 1832 Josef Stefsky bought the Freysegg manor house from the Albrecht von Albrechtsburg family at Hauptstraße Nr. 14, a Baroque burgher house with a Renaissance round oriel, and in 1833 the business moved there. After the founder's death in 1856 the company was continued by his widow, with the business limited to direct deliveries for the military treasury. In 1869 the business was fully taken over by Josef Stefsky Junior, who had already worked in the firm for years. His first measure was to introduce steam power. The contemporaneous organisation of the Royal Hungarian Landwehr provided a rich source of demand and sufficient work for the enlarged factory. The introduction of marksmen's badges with spherical tufts was of particular importance to the firm: using a new shearing machine it succeeded in making the tufts of these badges perfectly round and velvety. Initially this required costly preparatory work and employed 10 to 12 people, but with the introduction of auxiliary machines one man could do the job. This special article also enabled exports to Romania, which had previously obtained its military passementerie from Paris. These exports declined sharply towards the end of the nineteenth century because tariffs on Austrian goods were significantly raised, so that Romanian traders preferred to send the goods first to Zurich and import them from there as Swiss goods — a detour that was naturally time-consuming and costly. An unusual increase in production occurred in 1880, when a comprehensive equipping of the army, especially the Landwehr, took place. In that year the quantity of special articles produced doubled, and the factory employed 235 workers plus 140 home workers. The passementerie produced in the factory comprised several thousand patterns. Among the items needed for the k.u.k. army and uniformed corps were all kinds of braids, arm stripes for rank insignia of all grades, cords for all branches of service, NCO portepées in numerous forms, signal horn cords, marksmen's badges and armbands, as well as all passementerie articles for the most varied uniforms. The firm also produced some special articles for industrial purposes, namely drum linen, spindle cords and spindle bands for cloth factories. The manufacture of some of these articles was very laborious and required many devices. For example, an NCO portepée, sold individually for 20 to 30 heller, had to pass through the worker's hand or the machine something like a hundred times in all the manipulations required. The production of the spherical velvety tufts for the marksmen's badges was interesting: first a loose tassel of woollen yarn was tied, cut to the proper length, wound into round forms and sewn, then the finished tuft was carded and sheared velvety on a special, very precisely working shearing machine. Around 1900 the factory's equipment consisted of a four-horsepower Hoffmeister engine and a five-horsepower petrol engine, the latter also used to drive the existing dynamo that supplied about 80 light bulbs. The workshop facilities included 14 older ribbon looms, mostly still hand-operated, 70 braiding machines for producing the most varied patterns, all set up for machine operation, two large covering machines, a gimp turning lathe, and the shearing machine together with the associated cutting and carding machine. All articles were finally freed of adhering fibres in a singeing machine and finished for dispatch by numerous other auxiliary machines. Around 1900 the firm produced 200,000 marksmen's badges and chest cords, 180,000 NCO portepées, about two million metres of cords, etc. It employed around 100 workers, of whom 65 were women. On the occasion of the marriage of Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria, the factory owner donated 4,000 crowns for the factory's workers unable to work. In 1873 the firm received its first award from the jury of the 1873 Vienna World's Fair. Further awards followed at the Paris World's Fair of 1878, as well as in Vienna 1880, Trieste 1882, Krems 1884, Antwerp 1885, Vienna 1888, Barcelona 1888, Philippopel 1892, Mistelbach 1895, Innsbruck 1896, Vienna 1898 and Paris 1900. The owner received personal distinctions, namely the title of k.u.k. Hoflieferant in 1875, and later the honour of the Koo... [text truncated]. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries the company transformed from an industrial manufacturer of military passementerie into a modern embroidery workshop. Today, as Stickerei STEFSKY e.U., it operates from Stockerau and offers custom embroidery on a wide range of textile and promotional items, from shirts and blankets to Tracht accessories, wedding items and institutional emblems. Its website presents the firm under the motto "seit 1823 am neuesten Stand", linking its long history to contemporary embroidery services.

• 1900

  Around this time the factory produces 200,000 marksmen's badges, 180,000 NCO portepées and about two million metres of cords, employing around 100 workers.

• 1880

  Production doubles; the factory employs 235 workers and 140 home workers.

• 1878

  Award at the Paris World's Fair.

• 1875

  The owner receives the title of k.u.k. Hoflieferant.

• 1873

  First award from the jury of the Vienna World's Fair.

• 1869

  Josef Stefsky Junior fully takes over the business and introduces steam power.

• 1856

  Founder Josef Stefsky dies; his widow continues the business.

• 1833

  The business moves to the new premises.

• 1832

  Josef Stefsky buys the Freysegg manor house at Hauptstraße Nr. 14.

• 1823

  Josef Stefsky and his wife Franziska establish a passementerie workshop in Stockerau.

Heritage Austrian embroidery workshop combining a tradition dating to 1823 with modern custom embroidery for private, corporate and institutional clients.

• Military passementerie (braids, cords, shoulder cords)

• Marksmen's badges with spherical tufts

• NCO portepées

• Signal horn cords

• Armbands and rank insignia stripes

• Industrial articles: drum linen, spindle cords, spindle bands

• Custom embroidery on shirts, blankets, bags, Tracht accessories

• Embroidered emblems and coats of arms for Bundesheer and fire services

1. 1Stickerei STEFSKY e.U. – seit 1823 am neuesten Standstickerei2000.at
2. 2Jos. Stefsky – Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Jos. Stefsky – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org