Kaffeehaus Café#

Coffeehouse (Cafe): Originating in Constantinople, the first coffeehouses in Europe were opened in Venice in 1645, London in 1652, Marseille and Hamburg in 1671, and Paris in 1671. The first coffeehouse in Vienna was opened in 1685 by the Greek Johannes Theodat (Diodato). In 1686, three former scouts active during the 2nd siege of Vienna by the Turks, among them Georg... Kolschitzky, were also granted a permit ("Privileg") to open a coffeehouse. For a long time, Kolschitzky was erroneously believed to be the founder of the Viennese coffeehouse tradition. In 1736, in addition to other so-called "Hofbefreite" (persons granted the imperial privilege of taxation exemption for 20 years), there were 19 bourgeois coffeehouses as well as itinerant "Wasserbrenner" (distillers), who, in addition to distilling Rosolio (a spiced liqueur), also roasted and served coffee. In contrast to the simple taverns, the bourgeois coffeehouses (the first was opened by Isaak de Luca in 1697) were more comfortable and offered better service, including, from 1703 onward, the first regularly published newspapers and public billiards. Because of this, the Viennese coffeehouse soon became a social institution. In 1750, the coffeehouse proprietor Gianni Tarroni was the first to be granted permission to set up tables and chairs outdoors in front of his coffeehouse on Graben in the city centre in summer. The expression "Schanigarten", used to describe tables and chairs set up outside a coffeehouse or restaurant, derives from "Giannis Garten" ("Gianni's garden"). In 1788, M. Wiegand was the first to engage musicians for his Cafe Bellevue at Kaerntnertor ("Konzertcafe"). The heyday of the Viennese coffeehouse was the Biedermeier period; proprietors began to furnish their coffeehouses luxuriously with mirrors, chandeliers, plush, and silver tableware (for which Neuner's "Silbernes Kaffeehaus" in Spiegelgasse was famous). The coffeehouse had become the focus of politics and society, art and literature ("Literatencafes"). It also became a favourite meeting place both for business as well as for private and social get-togethers. People went to coffeehouses to talk, to read (Austrian and foreign newspapers and periodicals), or to play games (billiards, chess, cards). Around 1870 the coffeehouses in the "Nobelprater" along the Prater Hauptallee became fashionable. Other famous coffeehouses were the Cafe Dommayer (established in 1787), the Dobner (1796), the Cafe Volksgarten (1818), the Casa Piccola (1830), the Griensteidl (1847), the Cafe Central (1860), the Landtmann (1873), the Cafe Museum (1899), the Prueckel (1903), and the Hawelka (1938). The glass of water that was served with every type of coffee used to be refilled without the waiter's being asked. Numerous varieties of coffee are served, the names of which depend on their size and the way milk or cream is used in their preparation: "klein" (small), "gross" (large), "verlaengert" (a "small" coffee extended to "large" size with water), or "kurz" (stronger than the usual), each of which can be black or "brown" ("ein Brauner" = with milk); Melange (with cream), which can be prepared either "mehr licht" (lighter, with more cream) or "mehr dunkel" (darker, with less), "Schale Braun" (a large "Brauner") or "Schale Gold" (a large "Brauner" with more milk than usual), "Kapuziner" (with milk and whipped cream), "Franziskaner" (light Melange with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles); "g"spritzt" (with rum, also called "Fiaker", or cognac), and "der Maria Theresia", which has orange liqueur in it; "Einspaenner" is a mocha in a glass with whipped cream on top, and a Melange with eggyolk in it is called "Kaisermelange". After 1950, many coffeehouses closed down, but around 1990 there was a revival of the coffeehouse culture. In 1994 Vienna had 1156 coffeehouses and "Cafe-Restaurants", 984 espresso bars, 222 Cafe-Konditorei establishments, and 89 stand-up coffee bars.

Literature#