Austrian Coffee Culture: The Viennese Coffee House Tradition PDF

Austrian Coffee Culture The Viennese Coffee House Tradition Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 1 Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 2  Leopold Hawelka...

Austrian Coffee Culture The Viennese Coffee House Tradition Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 1 Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 2  Leopold Hawelka Julius Meinl Thonet Chair Nr. 14 Punschkrapfen Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 3 Introduction In Austria—and especially in Vienna—coffee is much more than just a drink. Coffee is, without a doubt, a fixture of (Vienna’s) everyday culture. (Viennese) coffee houses are meeting places for intellectuals, politicians, businesspeople and the proverbial “Joe Average”. They go to chat, relax, discuss and read the papers. Vienna’s coffee houses are famous for their laid-back atmosphere, and some guests have long since made this or that particular coffee house into their second living room. Unlike the inhabitants of Germany, Austrians pronounce the German word for coffee (“Kaffee”) with the emphasis on the last syllable. Ordering from a coffee house waiter („Herr Ober“) is something of a cultural rite. One doesn’t, of course, simply order black coffee, the selection is immense... Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 4 Introduction By tradition, the coffee is served in an elegant cup with matching saucer on a silver tray; alongside is a serving of water, with a spoon balanced on the glass Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 5 Introduction The interiors of a traditional café consist of typically round tables and chairs from bended wood, hat stands of the same type, waiters in dinner jackets, papers in convenient holders and smoke from cigarettes and cigars. In the past, cafés only offered a small selection of pastries. Today, however, many cafés not only offer pastries, but also alcohol, snacks and sometimes even a full menu. Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 6 History The practice of coffee drinking can be traced right back to fourteenth- century Arabia. The Arabs began expanding their trade horizons and the beans came to Northern Africa, from there they entered the Indian and European markets In Europe coffee was first imported to Venice, Italy The first European coffee house was opened in Italy in 1647. In the 1650s coffee became available in England largely through the efforts of the British East India Company The first coffee house in Austria opened in Vienna in 1683 after the Battle of Vienna; the legend says that a Polish military officer named Jerzy Franciszek Kolschitzky was the only one to know how to brew the grey-green beans which were left by the Ottoman army; he spoke Romanian and Turkish and is said to have opened the first coffee house in Vienna; he helped popularize the custom of adding sugar and milk to the coffee. In fact, first coffe houses in Vienna were opened by Armenian business men Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 7 History Coffeehouses had started to become part of the cultivated leisure industry in the 19th century. In addition to serving coffee, these coffeehouses had also started providing newspapers (making the coffee houses to a place where public opinion was shaped), as well as games such as cards, billiard and chess. Soon after, people in Vienna came to coffeehouses to meet friends, close business deals and discuss cultural and political matters. They became the preferred meeting place for journalists and literary men, politicians, professionals and the middle classes in general. 1788 First Vienna Concert Café 1890 Cafe Griensteidl in Vienna became meeting place for young writers (Hofmannsthal, Kraus, Schnitzler): „Literatencafés“ 1891 30 elegant coffee houses opened at Ringstrasse Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 8 History In 1856, women were finally no longer banned from coffee houses. In 1938 Vienna had more the 1280 coffee houses. In 1938, the Nazis seized coffee houses owned by Jews. After 1950 many coffee houses closed down. Around 1990 there was a revival of the coffee house culture ( 1983: 300th anniversary) Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 9 Staff Hierarchy of personnel: Oberkellner or „Herr Ober“ (head waiter) Kellner (waiter, delivery person) Kaffeekoch (coffee maker) Piccolo (apprentice waiter) Sitzkassierin (Sit-in cashier) – until 1840 the only woman allowed in the coffee house Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 10 Staff Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 11 Staff Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 12 Staff Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 13 Classic Viennese Coffee houses Griensteidl: writers Sperl: artists, painters, architects, militairs Landtmann: university professors Central: writers, artists (Leo Trotzki spent hours in Cafe Central playing chess.) Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 14 Testimonials The Austrian writer Stefan Zweig described the Viennese café as „an istitution of a special kind.... a sort of democratic club for discussion, writing, and playing cards.“ Another writer, Alfred Polgar, had this to say about Vienna‘s legendary Café Central: „Its inhabitants are, for the most part, people who are misanthropes, and whose aversion to other people is as acute as their need for people: who want to be alone, but must have company to do so.....The Cafe Central comes to his rescue, inviting him to join and escape. Its customers know, love and underestimate one another.... The Café Central is a village in the center of the metropolis, steaming with gossip, curiosity and slander.“ Hans Weigel: „In and around Vienna, coffee is more than just a drink...it has become as much a part of the people's soul as beer in Bavaria, whiskey in Scotland, wine on the Rhine...“ Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 15 Cultural heritage Since October 2011 the "Viennese Coffee House Culture" is listed as ”Intangible Cultural Heritage” in the Austrian inventory of the "National Agency for the Intangible Cultural Heritage", a part of UNESCO. The Viennese coffee house is described in this inventory as a place "where time and space are consumed, but only the coffee is found on the bill.“ Criteria: furnishing (eg. traditional marble-topped coffeehouse tables, bentwood chairs and large chandeliers), menus and service, newspapers, live piano music or billiard tables Typical “mélange” of cosiness, charm and cosmopolitan urbanity. Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 16 Videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kslr-hTWe50 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZDMPJFyaEc https://www.tasteofaustria.org/the-coffee-house- legacy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcLwCuhPEqs Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 17 Tyrol/Innsbruck In Tyrol the coffee house tradition is of course also alive, although there are only a few examples of the original Viennese café culture (Cafe Central, Cafe Katzung, Cafe Valier, Cafe Munding, Cafe Aida, etc.) In Tyrol, however, there are a lot of „Konditoreien“ (less elegant and urban); here you can get various types of coffee as well, and a large variety of pastries. Now experience Austrian coffee culture on your own! Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 18 Student contribution 1. Split up in 5 groups and do some „mystery shopping“ in an Innsbruck coffee house 2. Gather information about the café in question and complete the form 3. Make some fotos, collect material and come back to class 4. Prepare a poster (flip) or powerpoint document and present it to your mates. Please upload your slides on Sakai, Forum Coffee House culture 5. The aim is to elaborate an Innsbruck coffee house guide Brigitte Huter| Susanne Lichtmannegger | Understanding Austrian Society and Culture slide 19