Vienna was not the first city in history to have a coffee house, despite the fact that the Viennese coffee house tradition is well-known around the world. Even in the 12th century, Mecca had a number of coffee shops. In Venice in 1647, the first coffee shop in Europe was established. Around England, the first coffee cafes debuted in 1650 and 1652. Additionally, Vienna’s first coffee shop didn’t open until 1683.
Vienna has developed a coffee house tradition unlike any other city in the world, despite the fact that it was not the originator of the culture. Vienna has some of the greatest coffee and coffee shops anywhere!
The Vienna coffee house culture began around 1683.
The conclusion of the Siege of Vienna in 1683 has a significant impact on the history of Vienna’s coffee house scene. According to legend, Georg Franz Kolschitzky (1640–1694), a citizen of Vienna, was the first to be granted a permit to sell coffee in the city as a result of his valiant acts during the Siege of Vienna. The Turkish settlers’ leftover coffee beans served as the foundation for his success. His name was given to a street in Vienna’s 4th district, and a statue was erected at the intersection of Favoritenstraße and Kolschitzkygasse.
The Armenian snitch Diodato, however, was the one who really founded Vienna’s first coffee shop. He worked for the Imperial court in Vienna and was a man of many secrets. He was familiar with the dark beans and the craft of making coffee in his native country. He has a park named after him in Wieden, the fourth district of Vienna.
As traditions change
Many of the traits that still define a coffee house in the Viennese style today were present in the original coffee houses. Each cup of coffee was provided with a glass of water, and the waitstaff had pool and card tables available.
The first coffee shop to provide newspapers to its patrons was the Kramersches Kaffeehaus in Vienna’s city centre in 1720. When warm food and drink were first permitted to be served, it marked a significant turning point in Vienna’s coffee house history. However, in 1808, Austria’s price for coffee beans soared significantly as a result of Napoleon’s Continental Blockade of England. Owners of coffee shops had to search for alternatives in order to avoid bankruptcy, which sparked the growth of café restaurants.
Following the Congress of Vienna in 1814–1815, the city’s coffee house scene once more blossomed. The Viennese coffee house rose to prominence as the ideal of a high standard of living throughout all of Europe during the Biedermeier era. Coffee shops in the Vienna-style started to appear in Prague, Zagreb, Verona, Trieste, and Venice. Large spaces, crimson velvet furnishings, and opulent chandeliers were standard elements of every upscale coffee shop.
Women were eventually allowed in coffee shops starting in 1856. The only women present prior to then were the cashiers.
Literature seen at coffee shops and cafés
A group of literary intellectuals known as “Jung Wien” began gathering regularly at Café Griensteidl around 1890. (Young Vienna). Coffee house literature was created at a café where a distinguished group of young authors, including Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Karl Kraus, and Arthur Schnitzler, gathered.
The authors, however, did not focus just on one particular coffee shop. They frequently favoured different coffee shops: Café Griensteidl was the most well-liked gathering place for young authors, followed by Café Central, which was followed by Café Herrenhof. Other artists also had favourite coffee shops; for instance, painters frequently gathered at Café Museum.
The exquisite coffee houses were seen as second homes or “extended living rooms” by the majority of Vienna’s population, who resided in cramped, small apartments. The first dance cafés with jazz music performed in them debuted after World War One. Coffee shops were widely used as trade locations where highly sought-after products were swapped beneath the tables during the global economic crisis of the 1930s.
Jewish coffee shop culture is being destroyed
The Nazis confiscated Jewish-owned coffee shops in 1938, mostly in Vienna’s 2nd district. They had served as a vibrant counterpoint to the more pretentious coffee shops in the first district and served as the second home for many Jewish intellectuals and creatives.
Following war crisis
Vienna’s coffee cafes had a crisis in the 1950s. Traditional coffee shops were increasingly seen as dated as Italian-style espresso bars grew in popularity. Many long-running Viennese-style coffee shops had to close up shop until the 1980s.
Optimistic outlook
When Vienna’s coffee houses celebrated its 300th anniversary in 1983, the custom was resurrected as locals began to recall the distinctive features of their coffee houses.
The UNESCO added Viennese coffee house culture to the list of intangible cultural treasures of the country in 2011.
