“The atmosphere is elegant yet cosy,” says Brandlmaier, who recommends the sweet treats at Diglas. And people do.It doesn’t matter that the place is full. Soon, psychiatrist Sigmund Freud and artist Andy Warhol became regulars here.
Therefore the first coffee house in Europe opened in Venice. An Einspanner. It’s no surprise to us that our coffee house culture is known and liked all over the world. The owners worked in the café well into their nineties, and it’s still family-run, with son Günther and grandchildren taking over after their passing. The Viennese coffee house is known around the globe for its informal pleasantness, as an oasis of gemütlichkeit. Viennese coffee house culture as UNESCO Cultural Heritage 2011 . “The sweet treats are all fantastic, but my all-time favourite is the nut sticky bun.” Aida was founded by Czech-born Josef Prousek in 1913 and is considered the largest privately owned coffee shop and confectionery producer in Europe, making three tons of cakes and pastries, seven days a week.Coffee house culture is important in Vienna, and there’s probably little that sums up life in the Austrian capital better than heading to a coffee shop for cake and a Café Hawelka, located in Vienna’s prestigious first district, is so well-loved in Vienna that it has been featured in Austrian documentary films and in songs such as ‘Jö Schau’ (by the late Austrian singer Georg Danzer) and ‘Trans Europa Express‘ by German band Kraftwerk.
The oldest café in Vienna dates back to 1683, and there are roughly a thousand in the city these days. Perhaps a Verlängerter. It doesn’t matter that there are people queueing outside. But check official sites for remaining The Vienna café culture forms such an integral part of what it means to be Viennese that UNESCO put it on the intangible cultural heritage list for Austria. What exactly does that mean? The Viennese elevated coffee drinking into a culture and a way of life – something which visitors to the Viennese coffee houses can still experience, even today. In 2011 UNESCO listed Viennese coffee culture as the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Self-roasted coffee as well as an authentic range of fresh, regional products underline our awareness for quality and sustainability. Although the interior is quite small, Korb is full of life at any time of the day. There will be coffee, as you’re no doubt shocked to learn. Traditional cafés entice with a wide variety of coffee drinks, international newspapers and pastry creations. ‘Viennese coffee houses are a place where time and space are consumed, but only the coffee is found on the bill’ – description of the Viennese coffee houses by UNESCO. The history of Viennese Coffee House Culture. So much so that in 2011, Vienna’s coffee houses were listed as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. Coffee came to Europe in the 17th century with the flourishing Venetian trade. Opened in 1939 by newly-weds Leopold and Josefine Hawelka, it was especially popular with Austrian poets, musicians and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s. You could never know if they were friendly or unfriendly without opening the box.Such staff are rarer these days.
“Owner Susanne is a Viennese legend,” says Brandlmaier, who is a fan of the rustic café’s Housed inside Palais Ferstel on high-end Herrengasse, Café Central has been an institution in Vienna since 1876. Its Café Hawelka is located in Vienna’s prestigious first districtCafé Prückel is one of the most traditional coffee houses in ViennaCafé Korb, near St Stephen’s Cathedral, opened in 1904Café Central has been an institution in Vienna since 1876Café Diglas on Wollzeile road opened its doors in 1923All Day, Dessert, Lunch, Brunch, Afternoon Tea, DinnerCafé Schwarzenberg is almost exclusively frequented by localsAida Café Konditorei is a franchise with around 30 coffee houses spread around Vienna This dates back to the days of the aristocracy, when you wanted your guests to see the hallmark on the spoon’s back that proved it was solid silver. Elegant and cosy, the coffee house is traditionally Viennese in appearance thanks to its wood-panelled walls, dark-wood furniture and white tablecloths. As a "typical social practice", the Viennese coffee house culture has been officially included in UNESCO's national inventory of intangible cultural heritage since the 10th of November 2011. (Incidentally, those same aristocrats used to drink their coffee cold, since the steam melted courtly makeup. However, artists loved the café, and thanks to its proximity to the opera house it soon became the place to be for the cultural elite. While coffee plays a major role in many countries, in Vienna, drinking coffee is part of the fabric of social life. But coffee is not coffee. After all, as author Friedrich Torberg allegedly once said (my rough translation):People always seem to be going into Café Hawelka, but none of them come out again. Traditional cafés entice with a wide variety of coffee drinks, international newspapers and pastry creations. When you cross the threshold, listen closely to hear the tick of your watch slow to a standstill.Perhaps the one truly defining element, therefore, is the complete absence of any pressure to drink up or move on.You can sit there for hours having ordered a single coffee. Café Central has a large selection of coffees, sweet treats and Viennese dishes such as schnitzel and This café on Wollzeile road opened its doors in 1923 but its original establishment dates back to 1875. For that reason on my trip to Vienna, I decided to visit famous Viennese cafes. There’s also a bowling alley downstairs that has been around for decades.
But for Vienna, it didn’t take long to catch up either. While many are long-standing, traditional places, a constant stream of new openings means that there are also more modern places where you can spend hours chatting, working, reading the papers, eating cakes – and drinking coffee.