The "Ludwig ZWIEBACK & Bruder" Business in Vienna

This information has been collected from a variety of sources and will be revised as more facts are discovered.

In 1877, Ludwig, Samuel, and Emanuel Zwieback, three brothers from Bonyhad, Hungary, established a high-fashion store in Vienna named as “Ludwig Zwieback & Bruder Co.”. At this time, Ludwig was age 33, Emmanuel was 27, and Samuel was 34. This store was probably located in District 7, at Mariahilferstrasse 111, corner of Webgasse. They were successful in this business and so, in 1895, they built a large 8-story high-fashion department store in District 1, at Kartnerstrasse 11/15, corner of Weihburggasse, very close to Stephansplatz, the city center. This elegant building was designed by Fredrich Schoen (born 1857 in Hungary) and had very fancy ground-level facades with protruding glass showcases. The three main floors were show rooms for the customers. A beautiful oval grand staircase served all the floors. This new store was operated in addition to the original District 7 store, about 2 km. distant.
Zwieback Department Store, Vienna, 1939
Ludwig Zwieback & Bruder Department Store, Vienna, 1939


Emanuel died in 1905 at age 55 and Ludwig died in 1906 at the age of 62. Samuel continued to operate the business for some time, to about 1910. At that time, Samuel turned the business over to his two sons Josef, age 34, and Siegfried, age 31. Much later, Samuel’s youngest son Eugen, born 1900, joined the business. Samuel, the last of the founders, died in 1929 at age 86. The store at Mariahilferst. 111 was renamed the “Josef Zwieback & Bruder Company” in about 1925. Probably due to financial difficulties, this store closed in 1930.

Josef Zwieback & Bruder Company, Vienna, 1939
Josef Zwieback & Bruder Company, Vienna, 1939

Upon the death of her father Ludwig Zwieback, Mrs. Ella Zwieback-Zirner inherited the substantial properties and businesses at Kartnerstrasse 11/15. In 1933, 3 Hussar-officers led by Count Paul Palffy rented the part of the property at Weihburggasse 4 (next to the Zwieback Fashion Store) and created the “Zu den Drei Hussaren” restaurant. The entire property was “legally” confiscated from Mrs. Zirner in 1938 using the “Law of the Elimination of Jews from the German Economy”. Mrs. Zirner, with her son Ludwig Zirner, left Vienna in 1938 and lived in the U.S. for many years, until she died in New York City in 1970 at age 91. The restaurant was transferred to Mr. Otto Horcher, a restaurateur from Berlin. After the war, Mrs. Ella Zwieback-Zirner and her son Ludwig sued the state for restitution. They got the Kartnerstrasse store property (but not the rest) back in 1951 and sold it again in 1957. Today, the "Zu den Drei Husaren" restaurant is considered one of the finest addresses in Vienna.

In 2001-02, the Historical Museum of the City of Vienna staged an exhibition entitled “High Fashion from Head to Foot, 1750-2001”. Included in the exhibition were fashions from the Ludwig Zwieback Salon.

This web page was created by Ed Zwieback with the help of Wolf-Erich Eckstein, Gertrude Zwieback, Lisa Zirner, Joachim Zirner, Giles MacDonogh, and Henry Wellisch.

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Updated 28 Mar 2005