160 years of tradition and ink: Visiting Miller Writing Culture

“I’m actually more of a pencil fan myself,” says the managing director Georg Mosler when visiting the KURIER. He is the fifth generation to run the company. “Actually, I always said that I would definitely not take over the family business,” says Mosler. In the 1990s, he and his sister, who were students at the time, took over the business because their father fell ill. Mosler now runs the company alone.

Viennese tradition with German origins

“Miller Office & Writing Culture” is considered a traditional Viennese company. But his roots are actually German. The Ulm entrepreneur Carl Friedrich Kuhn founded a factory for steel writing nibs in Vienna in the middle of the 19th century. Friedrich Miller (Mosler’s great-great-grandfather) initially worked for Kuhn as a sales representative. He later married Kuhn’s niece and opened the stationery store at Mariahilfer Straße 93 in 1966, where it is still located today.

“When the shop opened here, carriages still drove in front of the door,” says Mosler. Since then, the company has experienced ups and downs. In the interwar period, the businesses were reorganized in order to be able to cope with the economic challenges. Even after the Second World War, the family had to rebuild the business.

There was “a real folk festival” in 1993, when the “Mahü” took place U3 subway line was completed. Not only was the store much more accessible, but the lengthy construction site right outside the door was finally completed.

“There are only a few specialists left”

The industry has changed significantly since Mosler took over the company. “In my grandfather’s time there were seven Paper shops here on the street. Today there are mainly chains. Of the real specialists, there are only a handful left in Vienna,” says Mosler. These would prevail primarily through high-quality products compared to the competition, which is often cheaper. That’s why Mosler, together with his eight employees, is pushing forward the “conscious return to writing culture.”

Inexpensive entry-level fountain pens start at 15 to 20 euros. The most expensive fountain pens currently available from Miller cost around 3,500 euros. These are made in Germany and hand-painted in Japan and decorated with lacquer and shells. Overall, Mosler has noticed a growing trend in recent years Japan-Trend.

He also really appreciates the products from East Asia: “The Japanese have incredible ones Writing culture. Their font requires much greater precision than we need with classical Latin script. And so their writing instruments are completely different in terms of precision.” In addition to Japanese products, fountain pens from Germany or the USA are also very popular.

Pupils, students, regular customers and passionate collectors

Like that Assortment The customers are also diverse. From parents shopping with their children for school, to students, to passionate collectors. About half of the customers are regulars who come back again and again, for example to buy ink or refills. But tourists are also shopping more and more often at Miller.

The company has also been running its own for a few years Online Shop. “We do sell something there every now and then, but what we really want to do is be seen online so that customers come into the store.” This means that the online share of sales – which, according to Mosler, is less than one million euros annually – is “negligible”. The focus has always been on the personal Advice in business. And it should stay that way in the future.