Kaffeehaus culture

More than 300 years later the Kaffeehaus has become an institution, without comparison in the world. The Viennese have developed a whole culture around coffee drinking and elevated it to an all encompassing attitude of life.

You feel at home in a Kaffeehaus as you step inside: the setting is spacious yet intimate, there is plush seating around marble tables, the scrape of traditional Thonet wooden chairs on parquet floors and mirrors reflecting mildly steamy light.  Some examples of Kaffeehaus are furnished with genuine showpieces - time-worn and darkened, they exude an indefinable atmosphere.

A cup of coffee is your entrance ticket
You take your seat in an era far removed from daily modern bustle. Your entrance ticket is a cup of coffee, just as it has been for generations. Once you have ordered, be it a kleiner schwarzer, kapuziner, einspänner or melange – and these are just some of the specialities – you can sit back, relax and do just what you like: read from the selection of complimentary newspapers, browse the book you brought with you, surf the internet with free wi-fi, discuss religion or world affairs, or talk business. In certain Kaffeehäuser you can enjoy a game at card and billiard tables dating from monarchic times.

All life happens here, everyone plays their part. The Viennese Kaffeehaus is an extended living room, where you can be not at home yet not in the fresh air. It is ideal for people who need company to be alone. It is both a stage and a private space. People sense that they are following in a great tradition of leisure and creativity and love it because it is always reinventing itself. Around 1900 a group of authors went down in history as coffee house literati: they not only socialised in the Kaffeehaus but used it as their workplace. One of them, Peter Altenberg, wrote the address of his local Kaffeehaus on this visiting card and in return the Café Central has a monument to him. Before writers claimed the Kaffeehaus as their own, composers had also discovered its charms for themselves: Johann Strauß, father and son, introduced new works here.; even Mozart and Beethoven  performed in a Kaffeehaus.

Indulgence on the menu
A particular joy of the Viennese Kaffeehaus lies in its service: the opening times alone, from early morning until midnight, are impressive.  And of course the serving staff, almost always waiters who are addressed as “Herr Ober“ and who reward a prompt order with some banter and Viennese charm. Not to be forgotten the comfortable seating and of course the light snacks, sweet or savoury, which make a prolonged stay in a Kaffeehaus so very pleasant and satisfying. Apart from dishes of the day, classics include sausages with mustard or open sandwiches, and the combination of newspaper and breakfast is legendary.

Cakes and pastries are of course a special attraction of every Kaffeehaus. They are almost always home-made, often to carefully guarded house recipes. The „Sperl-Schnitte“ at Café Sperl is just one such delicacy, or the cake of the house at Café Alt-Wien. Café Korb, admired for its original 1950s fittings, serves the best Apfelstrudel in the city. On the other hand Café Hawelka which boasts Jugendstil decor almost overlooked in a room full patina-darkened wood – serves the coveted Buchteln mit Powidl a speciality bun with plum jam, hot from the oven at 10 in the evening and it very quickly disappears.

For whatever reason the Viennese go to a Kaffeehaus – to relax, to chat, to snack, to read, to play, to do business, to see and be seen, they always get something out of it: the Kaffeehaus is an elixir of life – the longer you stay, the better it works.

USEFULL LINKS:
www.wiener-kaffeehaus.at
A selection of Viennese coffee house classics:
Inner city:

Café Alt-Wien
Bäckerstraße 9
1010 Wien
www.cafealtwien.at

Café Bräunerhof
Stallburggasse 2
1010 Wien
www.braeunerhof.at
 
Café Hawelka
Dorotheergasse 6
1010 Wien
www.hawelka.at

Cafe Korb
Brandstätte 9
1010 Wien
www.cafekorb.at

Kleines Café
Franziskanerplatz 3
1010 Wien

Café Landtmann
Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Ring 4
1010 Wien
www.landtmann.at

Café Prückel
Stubenring 24
1010 Wien
www.prueckel.at

Café Sacher
Philharmonikerstraße 4
1010 Wien
www.sacher.com/de-cafe-wien.htm

Café Schottenring
Schottenring 19
1010 Wien
www.cafe-schottenring.at

Café Schwarzenberg
Kärntner Ring 17
1010 Wien
www.cafe-schwarzenberg.at

Café Central im Palais Ferstel
Herrengasse 14
1010 Wien
www.palaisevents.at

Other districts:
Café Sperlhof
Große Sperlgasse 41
1020 Wien

Café Goldegg
Argentinierstr. 49
1040 Wien
www.cafegoldegg.at

Café Sperl
Gumpendorferstr. 11
1060 Wien
www.cafesperl.at

Café Westend
Mariahilfer Straße 128
1060 Wien

Café Nil
Siebensterngasse 39
1070 Wien

Café Hummel
Josefstädter Straße 66
1080 Wien
www.cafehummel.at

Café Dommayer
Dommayergasse 1
1130 Wien
www.dommayr.at

Café Drechsler
Linke Wienzeile 22
1060 Wien
www.cafedrechsler.at

Café Weingartner
Goldschlagstraße 6
1150 Wien

Café Weidinger
Lerchenfelder Gürtel 1
1160 Wien

Café Ritter
Ottakringerstraße 117
1160 Wien
www.caferitter.at

Café Weimar
Währinger Straße 68
1180 Wien
www.cafeweimar.at