Viennese coffee house

The Viennese coffee house (German: das Wiener Kaffeehaus, Bavarian: as Weana Kafeehaus) is a typical institution of Vienna that played an important part in shaping Viennese culture.

Since October 2011 the "Viennese Coffee House Culture" is listed as "

The social practices, rituals, and elegance create the very specific atmosphere of the Viennese café.^[2] Coffee Houses entice with a wide variety of coffee drinks, international newspapers, and pastry creations. Typical for Viennese Coffee Houses are marble tabletops, Thonet chairs, newspaper tables and interior design details in the style of Historicism.^[3]

The Austrian writer Stefan Zweig described the Viennese Coffee House as an institution of a special kind, "actually a sort of democratic club, open to everyone for the price of a cheap cup of coffee, where every guest can sit for hours with this little offering, to talk, write, play cards, receive post, and above all consume an unlimited number of newspapers and journals."^[4] Zweig in fact attributed a good measure of Vienna's cosmopolitan air to the rich daily diet of current and international information offered in the coffee houses.

In many classic cafés (for example

In

This special atmosphere was only able to persist in Vienna and in a few other places. In particular in Trieste, which has been "forgotten" for a long time since 1918 and the many upheavals, there are still many of the former Viennese coffee houses (Caffè Tommaseo, Caffè San Marco, Caffè degli Specchi, Caffè Tergesteo, Caffè Stella Polare) in which the former lifestyle has been preserved by the locals.^[5][6]

History

Legend has it that soldiers of the Polish-Habsburg army, while liberating Vienna from the

After some experimentation, the legend goes on, Kulczycki added some sugar and milk, and the Viennese coffee tradition was born. This achievement has been recognized in many modern Viennese coffeehouses by hanging a picture of Kulczycki in the window.[8] Another account is that Kulczycki, having spent two years in Ottoman captivity, knew perfectly well what coffee really was and tricked his superiors into granting him the beans that were considered worthless.^[9]

According to recent research, Vienna's first coffee house was in fact opened by an Armenian businessman named Johannes Diodato in 1685.^{[10][11][12][13]} 15 years later, four Greek owned coffeehouses had the privilege to serve coffee.^{[14][verification needed]}

The new drink was well received, and coffee houses began to pop up rapidly. In the early period, the various drinks had no names, and customers would select the mixtures from a colour-shaded chart.

The heyday of the coffee house was the turn of the nineteenth century when writers like Peter Altenberg, Alfred Polgar, Egon Friedell, Karl Kraus, Hermann Broch and Friedrich Torberg made them their preferred place of work and pleasure. Many famous artists, scientists, and politicians of the period such as Arthur Schnitzler, Stefan Zweig, Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt, Adolf Loos, Theodor Herzl, and Alfred Adler.^[15] Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Leon Trotsky and Josip Broz Tito were all living in Vienna in 1913, and they were constant coffee house patrons.

In the 1950s, the period of "coffee house death" began, as many famous Viennese coffee houses had to close. This was due to the popularity of television and the appearance of modern espresso bars.

Notable coffee houses

• Aida, a chain of traditional Viennese coffee and pastry shops with locations all over the city; one popular location is right beside Stephansplatz.
• Café Bräunerhof, Stallburggasse 2
• Café Central, in Vienna, in the Palais Ferstel, Herrengasse 14 (corner of Strauchgasse) – Peter Altenberg's favorite café and at times his primary address
• Café Demel
  , Kohlmarkt 14 – the most famous sweet bakery, less of a typical café
• Café Griensteidl, Michaelerplatz 2 – the favourite café of Leon Trotsky and many writers of that era, closed June 2017
• Café Hawelka, Dorotheergasse 6
• Café Landtmann, Universitätsring 4 – Sigmund Freud's preferred café
• Café Museum, Operngasse 7
• Café Sacher, Philharmonikerstraße 4 (a café part of the Hotel Sacher)
• Café Savoy, Linke Wienzeile 36
• Café Schwarzenberg, Kärntner Ring 17 (at Schwarzenbergplatz)
• Café Sperl, Gumpendorferstraße 11
• Kaffee Alt Wien, Bäckerstraße 9
• Vollpension, generational-bridging cafés in the 1st and 4th district that offer seniors a way out of financial and contact poverty

See also

• Karlsbad coffee
• Young Vienna, literary movement that arose around Viennese coffee houses
•  Coffee portal
•  Drink portal
•  Austria portal

References