Last sale

No successor: Kärntner Heimatwerk closes down

Ewald Opetnik at the Klagenfurt site of the Kärntner Heimatwerk: the dirndls, suits and fabrics are now sold off, the traditional costume archive already belongs to the province of Carinthia.

(Bild: Evelyn Hronek)

No successor could be found for the traditional costume house, which has been in existence for more than 70 years. "We are retiring, the Kärntner Heimatwerk is retiring," says the Opetnik couple, inviting people to Klagenfurt and Villach to sell off and closing the Heimatwerk.

Generations of Carinthians have bought fabrics, traditional costumes and gifts such as ceramics, candles, patron saint reverse glass pictures, incense and much more from the Kärntner Heimatwerk, which under Ewald and Elisabeth Opetnik supplied dirndls to Canada and Saudi Arabia. Since last year, the dedicated couple have been looking for successors for this "wonderful task" at Kärntner Heimatwerk. "We have also been in intensive discussions with traditional costume suppliers in Carinthia, the surrounding provinces and in Germany. Unfortunately, no successor has been found to date who is willing to continue to cultivate the spirit of this unique company, this special attitude to life," regrets Ewald Opetnik. 

He and his wife Elisabeth are now retiring. Anyone who wants to buy a beautiful dirndl, a smart traditional costume suit or fine fabrics at reduced prices: Heimatwerk is now selling out - at the Klagnefurt and Villach locations. The entire warehouse is being cleared.

The Kärntner Heimatwerk was founded in 1953 as a department of the state of Carinthia.

Under Franz Koschier, a traditional costume archive was set up, according to which the tailors of the Heimatwerk sewed the valley costumes.

In 2006, the economic part of the Heimatwerk was transferred to Kärntner Heimatwerk GmbH, which has been managed to this day by Ewald Opetnik and his wife Elisabeth Opetnik.

Since August 2016, all shares in the GmbH have been owned by the Opetnik family, who - as Koschier once did - have brought out numerous dirndls such as the National Park dirndl, the Biosphere Park dirndl, the Hemma dirndl and the Hemma dirndl as their own collection in the spirit of traditional costume renewal.

Last year, the Opetnik couple began looking for a successor - so far in vain. So now the traditional Heimatwerk is being sold off and closed down.

The extensive archive of traditional costumes, which Franz Koschier had compiled in the 1950s and which lists the specific features of each valley costume in detail, now belongs to the state of Carinthia.