Café Hawelka
Encyclopedia
Viennese café
The Viennese Coffee House is a typical institution of Vienna that played an important part shaping Viennese culture.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...
in the Innere Stadt
Innere Stadt
The Innere Stadt is the 1st municipal District of Vienna . The Innere Stadt is the old town of Vienna. Until the city boundaries were expanded in 1850, the Innere Stadt was congruent with the city of Vienna...
district of Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
located at Dorotheergasse 6.
Leopold Hawelka
Leopold Hawelka is an Austrian cafetier, founder of the Café Hawelka . He was born in Mistelbach...
in 1939. Hawelka had previously operated the Kaffee Alt Wien
Kaffee Alt Wien
Kaffee Alt Wien is a classic Viennese coffee house at Bäckerstraße 9 in the First District. It was established in 1936 by Leopold Hawelka and his wife Josefine on the day after their wedding...
on Bäckerstraße since 1936 and together with his wife Josefine took over the Café Ludwig in the Dorotheergasse in May 1939. This spot was originally the location of the "Chatham Bar" opened in 1906. For two decades in recent past it was believed that the original venue was called "Je t'aime-Bar", this error resulting in the somewhat muted pronunciation of the original sources with the name making it to the books and articles about Hawelka. Research in Austrian newspapers of the early 20th century has helped to uncover this almost anecdotal mistake. After the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Hawelka had to be closed, and in Fall 1945 it was reopened in the fortunately still largely intact building.
After the end of the period of occupation after 1955, the café quickly became a meeting point for writers and critics like Heimito von Doderer
Heimito von Doderer
Heimito von Doderer was a famous Austrian writer.- Life and work :...
, Albert Paris Gütersloh
Albert Paris Gütersloh
Albert Paris Gütersloh was an Austrian painter and writer.Gütersloh worked as actor, director, and stage designer before he focused on painting in 1921....
, Hilde Spiel, Friedrich Torberg
Friedrich Torberg
Friedrich Torberg is the pen-name of Friedrich Kantor, an Austrian writer.- Biography :...
and Hans Weigel
Hans Weigel
Julius Hans Weigel was an Austrian Jewish writer and a theater critic . He lived in Vienna, except during the period between 1938 and 1945, when he lived in exile in Switzerland. He was a lifetime companion of the Austrian actress Elfriede Ott.- Biography :During the time before the Anschluss of...
. After the closing of the Café Herrenhof in 1961, even more artists gathered here and it became a central meeting place in the art scene of the time. Regular guests included Friedrich Achleitner
Friedrich Achleitner
Friedrich Achleitner is an Austrian poet and architecture critic.Achleitner studied architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna from 1950–1953. He joined the Wiener Gruppe in 1955, participated in their literary cabarets, and wrote dialect poems, montages, and concrete poems...
, H. C. Artmann, Konrad Bayer
Konrad Bayer
Konrad Bayer was an Austrian writer and poet. A member of the Wiener Gruppe, he combined apparently irreconcilable elements—violence, hermeticism, pessimism, ecstasy, banality—and influences —into a bizarre linguistic solipsism which has held increasing fascination for German writers of...
, Ernst Fuchs, Friedensreich Hundertwasser
Friedensreich Hundertwasser
Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser was an Austrian painter and architect. Born Friedrich Stowasser in Vienna, he became one of the best-known contemporary Austrian artists, although controversial, by the end of the 20th century.-Life:Hundertwasser's father Ernst Stowasser died three...
, Rudolf Hausner
Rudolf Hausner
Rudolf Hausner was an Austrian painter, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. Hausner has been described as a "psychic realist" and "the first psychoanalytical painter" .-Early life:...
, Wolfgang Hutter
Wolfgang Hutter
Wolfgang Hutter is a painter, draughtsman, printmaker and stage designer. Hutter's imagery is characterised by an artificial paradise of gardens and fantastical fairytale-like scenes....
, Helmut Qualtinger
Helmut Qualtinger
Helmut Qualtinger was an Austrian actor, writer and cabaret performer.-Biography:Helmut Qualtinger was born in Vienna, Austria...
, Gerhard Rühm, and Oskar Werner
Oskar Werner
-Early life:Born Oskar Josef Bschließmayer in Vienna, Werner spent much of his childhood in the care of his grandmother, who entertained him with stories about the Burgtheater, the Austrian state theatre, where he was accepted at the age of eighteen by Lothar Müthel. He was the youngest person ever...
. In the sixties and seventies the café experienced its peak. The artistic atmosphere of the café also inspired Georg Danzer
Georg Danzer
Georg Franz Danzer was an Austrian singer-songwriter. Although he is credited as one of the pioneers of Austropop , he always refused to be part of this genre.Danzer was successful as a solo...
's 1976 song Jö, schau (...was macht ein Nackerter im Hawelka).
Buchteln
Buchteln are sweet dumplings made of yeast dough, filled with jam, poppy seed paste or curd and baked in a large pan so that they stick together. The traditional Buchtel is filled with plum powidl jam...
desserts (which are still made by Günther Hawelka, son of Josefine and Leopold according to the old recipe). Leopold Hawelka
Leopold Hawelka
Leopold Hawelka is an Austrian cafetier, founder of the Café Hawelka . He was born in Mistelbach...
can still be found sitting at its entrance, greeting guests.
Coffee Specialties in Café Hawelka
Kleiner Brauner : A small Espresso ("Kleiner Schwarzer") served in a small cup with small amount of hot milk and milk foam to make it lighter than "Kleiner Schwarzer" but still strong.
Melange : A small Espresso ("Kleiner Schwarzer") prepared with the double amount of water and mixed 1:1 with hot milk, served with milk foam. This is the coffee most similar to the Cappucino and probably the most popular among the Viennese varieties.
Einspaenner : A small Espresso ("Kleiner Schwarzer") served in a water glass, topped with plenty of whipped cream, it is served with powder sugar on the side.
Grosser Brauner : A large Espresso ("Grosser Schwarzer") served in a large cup with small mount of hot milk and milk foam to make it lighter than "Grosser Schwarzer" but leaving it a strong coffee.
Maria Theresia Coffee : A Large Espresso served with Cointreau
Fiaker : An "Einspaenner" with a shot of rum.
External links
- www.hawelka.at Homepage of the café
- www.café-hawelka.info.eu Map and Information
- www.foto-welten.de/ Photos from the Hawelka
- Interactive panorama inside of the Hawelka ( Flash )
- Poster of Coffee Places "where one can think" created by Ariel Rubinstein