Wilhelm Jungmann opened his fabric shop in 1866, and in 1873 his nephew Wilhelm Dukes joined him, hence the name. In 1881 the business moved into the new building on Albertinaplatz and was appointed imperial and royal purveyor to the court that same year. Its customers included Empress Elisabeth and ladies from diplomacy and the upper middle class, and entire wardrobes were made in the workshops on the first floor.
The sales room has barely changed since: tables and shelves of solid oak, a stucco ceiling that looks like carved wood, and at its centre Franz Lefler’s allegory of the silk trade. There is no central heating, to spare the panelling. Georg Gaugusch, historian and chemist, runs Vienna’s oldest fabric shop as a family business: fine suiting and dress fabrics, silk, plus ties, pocket squares and accessories.
