Vienna shines
Austria is connected to its coffee culture and coffee houses like hardly any other country – they were and still are meeting places for a wide variety of political and ideological groups, haunts of penniless writers and, to this day, oases of relaxation in the Danube metropolis and other cities of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. They are unique in the world and have friends and enthusiasts around the globe.
The list of coffee houses is long and, in Vienna, must be organised by district in order to be useful. The various Austrian coffee drinks are almost impossible to keep track of and probably offer the widest range of coffee-based drinks that any single country has produced.
Many legends surround the first coffee house and coffee in Austria. Most books attribute the opening of the first café in Vienna, ‘Zu der blauen Flasche’ (Stock-im-Eisen-Platz 4), in 1683 to the cloth merchant and interpreter Georg Franz Kolschitzky (Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycky), after he had rendered outstanding services to Austria as an interpreter and spy. This date would have been immediately after the Turkish siege of 1683 under Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha (the ‘Black Mustafa’) – which seems unlikely given the economic situation at the time. This is probably an invention of the chronicler Gottfried Uhlich, who wrote this story in his chronicle ‘Geschichte der zweyten türkischen Belagerung Wiens, bey der hundertjährigen Gedächtnißfeyer’ (History of the Second Turkish Siege of Vienna, on the Centenary Commemoration) in 1783, thus making it the basis for the erroneous story of the first coffee house in Vienna, which has been passed down ever since.
In the early 18th century, typical features of Viennese coffee houses began to develop: the famous glass of water was served with coffee, and billiard tables and card games found their way into the establishments – even though card games were still officially banned until the end of the 18th century and were punishable by law for coffee house operators. In 1720, the Kramersche Kaffeehaus (on Graben) became the first coffee house in the world to lay out newspapers for reading – and immediately attracted numerous guests. The noisy debating venues developed into quieter newspaper cafés. There, people mostly read articles critical of the government and satirical pamphlets against the authorities. Coffee was then consumed in a quiet atmosphere accompanied by the soft rustling of newspapers.
In 1788, Markus Diegand opened the first ‘concert café,’ which was very popular with the Viennese population. Composers such as Mozart and Beethoven also enjoyed visiting concert cafés to experience the effect of their music directly in front of an audience. Josef Strauss Sr. and Johann Lanner owed their rise to fame and success to the concert cafés, where they were cheered by the audience like modern pop stars. During the Napoleonic era, the supply of coffee beans became scarce due to the Continental Blockade (1806–1813) and eventually came to a complete standstill. Substitute coffees made from plum kernels, figs, grain or chicory were not very popular and could not compensate for the loss of coffee, so that coffee houses, whose existence was now threatened, were allowed to serve wine and hot food – the boundary between inn and coffee house became blurred – and pastries began their triumphant advance.
During the Great Depression of the 1920s, coffee houses became trading centres and took on an important economic role for Vienna and Austria.
The 1950s brought a real threat to coffee houses with the emergence of small Italian-style espresso bars. The strong, small sip of coffee, which is usually consumed standing up and is quite inexpensive, strikes a chord with the spirit of the times and pushes coffee houses into decline. Many traditional coffee houses close.
The ‘Kaffeesieder’ – as coffee house operators still call themselves today – have preserved their name in the Kaffeesiederball, or rather the ‘Ball der Wiener Kaffeesieder’ (Vienna Coffee House Operators' Ball), which is one of the most prestigious ball events in Vienna and celebrated its 60th anniversary this year. For several years now, there has also been a Slovak Coffee Ball, which also pays tribute to this tradition but is open to the entire coffee world.
The ‘coffee roasters’ roasted their own coffee, created their own blends and used their coffee beans to prepare a wide variety of coffee drinks in order to set themselves apart from their competitors. This meant that the coffee roasters were both coffee roasters and baristas – they handled the entire refinement and preparation process from green coffee to coffee drink. The development of coffee drinks is complex and has been influenced by numerous people, events, preferences and inventions. In the early days of coffee houses, the various coffee drinks usually had no names.
Various sources refer to an intriguing coffee house utensil that has since been lost: the melange palette or melange template. This was a colour palette on which guests could select the strength of their coffee – via the ratio of coffee to milk – in shades ranging from black coffee to milk. The colour palettes contained between six and 32 shades. The basis of all coffee drinks is mocha or brown coffee, which can be expanded to become Austrian milk coffee – the melange. Whipped or liquid cream, egg and various liqueurs are also used. This is actually ideal for a coffee beverage system – interestingly, no one has yet discovered this for a modern coffee house system, where almost exclusively Italian coffee beverages are offered – I would like to leave aside the question of authenticity and quality here.
Austrian coffee drinks also influenced other famous coffee cultures, such as Italy and France. For example, the Café Viennois, a copy or homage to the Einspänner in France, or the Caffè con Panna, the Italian name for the Kapuziner.
Café Hawelka: Dorotheergasse 6, 1010 Vienna [www.hawelka.at] Artists' café where the famous Buchteln have been served since 1939 according to Josephine Hawelka's recipe.
Café Landtmann: Universitätsring 4, 1010 Vienna [www.landtmann.at] Vienna's largest café, dating from 1873, with evening music.
Café Museum: Operngasse 7, 1010 Vienna [www.cafemuseum.at] A meeting place for artists, painters and architects since 1899.
Café Imperial: Kärtner Ring 6, 1010 Vienna [www.cafe-imperial.at] Former coffee house, meeting place for composers, serving fine Viennese coffee house cuisine since 1873.
Café Wortner: Wiedner Hauptstraße 55, 1040 Vienna [www.wortner.at] Coffee house founded in 1880, completely renovated and redesigned in 2012.
Café Sperl: Gumpendorfer Str. 11, 1060 Vienna [www.cafesperl.at] Fin-de-siècle coffee house from 1880 with billiard tables and a large selection of newspapers. Famous for its pancakes.
Café Sacher: Philharmonikerstraße 4, 1010 Vienna [www.sacher.com] Coffee house in a hotel dating from 1876, famous for its Sachertorte.
Café Prückel: Stubenring 24, 1010 Vienna [www.prueckel.at] 1950s coffee house with original furnishings from that period.
Café Mozart: Albertinaplatz 2, 1010 Vienna [www.cafe-mozart.at] Popular meeting place for artists during the Biedermeier period, dating from 1794.
Café Griensteidl: Michaelerplatz 2, 1010 Vienna [www.cafegriensteidl.at] An artists' haunt from 1847, known colloquially in Vienna as the ‘Café Größenwahn’ (Café Megalomania).
Café Frauenhuber: Himmelpfortgasse 6, 1010 Vienna [www.cafefrauenhuber.at] Café-restaurant from 1824, where Mozart made his last public appearance in March 1791 and Beethoven in November 1788.
Café Schwarzenberg: Kärntner Ring 17, 1010 Vienna [www.cafe-schwarzenberg.at] Vienna's oldest Ringstrasse café[JK1] from 1861 with beautiful wood panelling.
Café Demel: Kohlmarkt 14, 1010 Vienna [www.demel.at] Former imperial and royal court confectioner Demel, large selection of confectionery and pastries.
#VienneseCoffeeHouse #CoffeeCulture #ViennaCoffeeHouse #UNESCOWorldHeritage #CaféCentral #CaféHawelka #CoffeeRoasters #CoffeeHouseHistory #ViennaVibes #Melange #Einspänner #CoffeeLove #EnjoyVienna #HistoricCoffeeHouses #CaféSperl #CaféSacher #CaféMozart
The list of coffee houses is long and, in Vienna, must be organised by district in order to be useful. The various Austrian coffee drinks are almost impossible to keep track of and probably offer the widest range of coffee-based drinks that any single country has produced.
Many legends surround the first coffee house and coffee in Austria. Most books attribute the opening of the first café in Vienna, ‘Zu der blauen Flasche’ (Stock-im-Eisen-Platz 4), in 1683 to the cloth merchant and interpreter Georg Franz Kolschitzky (Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycky), after he had rendered outstanding services to Austria as an interpreter and spy. This date would have been immediately after the Turkish siege of 1683 under Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha (the ‘Black Mustafa’) – which seems unlikely given the economic situation at the time. This is probably an invention of the chronicler Gottfried Uhlich, who wrote this story in his chronicle ‘Geschichte der zweyten türkischen Belagerung Wiens, bey der hundertjährigen Gedächtnißfeyer’ (History of the Second Turkish Siege of Vienna, on the Centenary Commemoration) in 1783, thus making it the basis for the erroneous story of the first coffee house in Vienna, which has been passed down ever since.
1685 – IT ALL BEGINS
It is more likely – as with most other coffee house establishments in Europe at that time – that the first coffee house operator was Armenian. It is believed that ‘Johannes Theodat’ (Christian name) or ‘Johannes Diodato’ (Owanes Astouatzatur) founded Vienna's first coffee house on 17 January 1685 at what was then Haarmarkt (today Rotenturmstraße 14). In gratitude for his courier services supplying silver to the imperial mint for 20 years, he was granted the privilege of being the only merchant allowed to sell coffee as a beverage. By 1790, the city already had 70 coffee houses. In 1819, 150 ‘Kaffeesieder’ – as they were called at the time – are mentioned, 25 of which were located in the city centre. Around 1900, there were over 600 coffee houses in Vienna. Today, according to the ‘Fachgruppe Kaffeehäuser Wien’ (Vienna Coffee House Association), there are around 2,200 establishments. Since 2011, ‘Viennese coffee house culture’ has been recognised by UNESCO as a ‘typical social practice’ and part of the national intangible cultural heritage.In the early 18th century, typical features of Viennese coffee houses began to develop: the famous glass of water was served with coffee, and billiard tables and card games found their way into the establishments – even though card games were still officially banned until the end of the 18th century and were punishable by law for coffee house operators. In 1720, the Kramersche Kaffeehaus (on Graben) became the first coffee house in the world to lay out newspapers for reading – and immediately attracted numerous guests. The noisy debating venues developed into quieter newspaper cafés. There, people mostly read articles critical of the government and satirical pamphlets against the authorities. Coffee was then consumed in a quiet atmosphere accompanied by the soft rustling of newspapers.
In 1788, Markus Diegand opened the first ‘concert café,’ which was very popular with the Viennese population. Composers such as Mozart and Beethoven also enjoyed visiting concert cafés to experience the effect of their music directly in front of an audience. Josef Strauss Sr. and Johann Lanner owed their rise to fame and success to the concert cafés, where they were cheered by the audience like modern pop stars. During the Napoleonic era, the supply of coffee beans became scarce due to the Continental Blockade (1806–1813) and eventually came to a complete standstill. Substitute coffees made from plum kernels, figs, grain or chicory were not very popular and could not compensate for the loss of coffee, so that coffee houses, whose existence was now threatened, were allowed to serve wine and hot food – the boundary between inn and coffee house became blurred – and pastries began their triumphant advance.
NEW TERRITORIES ARE CONQUERED
After the end of the Continental Blockade, numerous new coffee houses opened, even in areas that had not previously been typical locations for coffee houses. In 1820, another coffee house was opened in the Volksgarten, built to a design by Peter Nobile. Joseph Lanner and Johann Strauss Sr. played music here, and the guests were mainly from the nobility and the wealthy bourgeoisie. From 1840 onwards, summer soirées were held regularly. The leaflet ‘Der Volksgarten’ reported that the ‘elegant world’ appeared in this coffee house ‘to see and be seen, and to refresh themselves in the cool of the evening with coffee or other refreshments (...)’. The three coffee houses in the Prater were particularly popular, especially for musical events.WOMEN WERE INITIALLY ONLY ALLOWED TO ENTER WHEN ACCOMPANIED BY MEN
In 1856, women were officially granted access to coffee houses – initially only when accompanied by men. With the World's Fair in Vienna in 1873, Viennese coffee houses suddenly gained worldwide fame. With the incorporation of Vienna's 38 suburbs, the Ringstrasse was created – and along it, around 30 opulent coffee houses, which served the residents of Vienna with their small flats as extended living rooms for meetings with friends and acquaintances. The idea of the ‘third place’ is therefore old and copied or, perhaps more nicely put, ‘inspired’ by the Viennese coffee houses.During the Great Depression of the 1920s, coffee houses became trading centres and took on an important economic role for Vienna and Austria.
The 1950s brought a real threat to coffee houses with the emergence of small Italian-style espresso bars. The strong, small sip of coffee, which is usually consumed standing up and is quite inexpensive, strikes a chord with the spirit of the times and pushes coffee houses into decline. Many traditional coffee houses close.
The ‘Kaffeesieder’ – as coffee house operators still call themselves today – have preserved their name in the Kaffeesiederball, or rather the ‘Ball der Wiener Kaffeesieder’ (Vienna Coffee House Operators' Ball), which is one of the most prestigious ball events in Vienna and celebrated its 60th anniversary this year. For several years now, there has also been a Slovak Coffee Ball, which also pays tribute to this tradition but is open to the entire coffee world.
The ‘coffee roasters’ roasted their own coffee, created their own blends and used their coffee beans to prepare a wide variety of coffee drinks in order to set themselves apart from their competitors. This meant that the coffee roasters were both coffee roasters and baristas – they handled the entire refinement and preparation process from green coffee to coffee drink. The development of coffee drinks is complex and has been influenced by numerous people, events, preferences and inventions. In the early days of coffee houses, the various coffee drinks usually had no names.
Various sources refer to an intriguing coffee house utensil that has since been lost: the melange palette or melange template. This was a colour palette on which guests could select the strength of their coffee – via the ratio of coffee to milk – in shades ranging from black coffee to milk. The colour palettes contained between six and 32 shades. The basis of all coffee drinks is mocha or brown coffee, which can be expanded to become Austrian milk coffee – the melange. Whipped or liquid cream, egg and various liqueurs are also used. This is actually ideal for a coffee beverage system – interestingly, no one has yet discovered this for a modern coffee house system, where almost exclusively Italian coffee beverages are offered – I would like to leave aside the question of authenticity and quality here.
Austrian coffee drinks also influenced other famous coffee cultures, such as Italy and France. For example, the Café Viennois, a copy or homage to the Einspänner in France, or the Caffè con Panna, the Italian name for the Kapuziner.
EXPERIENCE COFFEE CULTURE
It is definitely worth visiting Vienna and its coffee houses and getting to know Viennese coffee drinks – the range of coffee culture that can be experienced and enjoyed here is unique and makes it easy to overlook any shortcomings in service and the Viennese sense of humour towards guests (especially Germans), as well as the sometimes very ‘sporty’ prices. This fate is shared by most famous coffee houses in all nations worldwide. So stop complaining and openly soak up the entire history and culture. Austrian and Viennese coffee culture lives on not only in Austria, but also in other cities of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it is worth searching for traces of Austrian coffee culture there – especially in Budapest, Prague, Brno and Trieste.Experience history: coffee houses in Vienna
Café Central: Herrengasse 14, 1010 Vienna [www.cafecentral.wien] Literary café in Venetian-Florentine style with Viennese cuisine, pastries and piano music.Café Hawelka: Dorotheergasse 6, 1010 Vienna [www.hawelka.at] Artists' café where the famous Buchteln have been served since 1939 according to Josephine Hawelka's recipe.
Café Landtmann: Universitätsring 4, 1010 Vienna [www.landtmann.at] Vienna's largest café, dating from 1873, with evening music.
Café Museum: Operngasse 7, 1010 Vienna [www.cafemuseum.at] A meeting place for artists, painters and architects since 1899.
Café Imperial: Kärtner Ring 6, 1010 Vienna [www.cafe-imperial.at] Former coffee house, meeting place for composers, serving fine Viennese coffee house cuisine since 1873.
Café Wortner: Wiedner Hauptstraße 55, 1040 Vienna [www.wortner.at] Coffee house founded in 1880, completely renovated and redesigned in 2012.
Café Sperl: Gumpendorfer Str. 11, 1060 Vienna [www.cafesperl.at] Fin-de-siècle coffee house from 1880 with billiard tables and a large selection of newspapers. Famous for its pancakes.
Café Sacher: Philharmonikerstraße 4, 1010 Vienna [www.sacher.com] Coffee house in a hotel dating from 1876, famous for its Sachertorte.
Café Prückel: Stubenring 24, 1010 Vienna [www.prueckel.at] 1950s coffee house with original furnishings from that period.
Café Mozart: Albertinaplatz 2, 1010 Vienna [www.cafe-mozart.at] Popular meeting place for artists during the Biedermeier period, dating from 1794.
Café Griensteidl: Michaelerplatz 2, 1010 Vienna [www.cafegriensteidl.at] An artists' haunt from 1847, known colloquially in Vienna as the ‘Café Größenwahn’ (Café Megalomania).
Café Frauenhuber: Himmelpfortgasse 6, 1010 Vienna [www.cafefrauenhuber.at] Café-restaurant from 1824, where Mozart made his last public appearance in March 1791 and Beethoven in November 1788.
Café Schwarzenberg: Kärntner Ring 17, 1010 Vienna [www.cafe-schwarzenberg.at] Vienna's oldest Ringstrasse café[JK1] from 1861 with beautiful wood panelling.
Café Demel: Kohlmarkt 14, 1010 Vienna [www.demel.at] Former imperial and royal court confectioner Demel, large selection of confectionery and pastries.
#VienneseCoffeeHouse #CoffeeCulture #ViennaCoffeeHouse #UNESCOWorldHeritage #CaféCentral #CaféHawelka #CoffeeRoasters #CoffeeHouseHistory #ViennaVibes #Melange #Einspänner #CoffeeLove #EnjoyVienna #HistoricCoffeeHouses #CaféSperl #CaféSacher #CaféMozart