Café Josty
Encyclopedia
Café Josty was a Berlin
café
located on the Potsdamer Platz
. At the beginning of 2001, a new Café Josty was opened at the Sony Center
not far from its original location.
The Josty brothers immigrated from Sils
in Switzerland
to Berlin and founded the pastry bakery Zuckerbäckerei Johann Josty & Co. in 1796. From this company emerged the Café Josty at least from 1812, first located "An der Stechbahn", then on the Schlossfreiheit (now the Schlossplatz square), and finally after 1880 on the Potsdamer Platz.
The earlier addresses were frequented by artists like Heinrich Heine
, Joseph von Eichendorff and the Grimm Brothers-- and during the imperial times Theodor Fontane
and Adolph von Menzel
. In 1900, the Josty family sold the cafe to the widow of the founder of the Café Bauer. The Josty was modernized but retained its original name.
and the New Objectivity
. Paul Boldt
described the appearance of the cafe in a well-known 1912 sonnet
.
Erich Kästner
used the cafe as the setting for an important scene in the children's book Emil und die Detektive.
The cafe closed in 1930, and the building was destroyed in World War II
. In Wim Wenders
' film Wings of Desire
, an old man attempts to find the location of the cafe but fails.
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
café
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
located on the Potsdamer Platz
Potsdamer Platz
Potsdamer Platz is an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of Berlin, Germany, lying about one kilometre south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag , and close to the southeast corner of the Tiergarten park...
. At the beginning of 2001, a new Café Josty was opened at the Sony Center
Sony Center
The Sony Center is a Sony-sponsored building complex located at the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany. It opened in 2000.-History:The site was originally a bustling city centre in the early 20th century. Most of the buildings were destroyed or damaged during World War II...
not far from its original location.
Nineteenth Century
Sils
-Places:*Sils, Girona, a municipality in the comarca of Selva in Catalonia, Spain**Lake Sils, Catalonia, an ancient lake near Sils*Sils im Engadin/Segl, consisting of Sils-Maria und Sils-Baselgia, in Graubünden, Switzerland...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
to Berlin and founded the pastry bakery Zuckerbäckerei Johann Josty & Co. in 1796. From this company emerged the Café Josty at least from 1812, first located "An der Stechbahn", then on the Schlossfreiheit (now the Schlossplatz square), and finally after 1880 on the Potsdamer Platz.
The earlier addresses were frequented by artists like Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
, Joseph von Eichendorff and the Grimm Brothers-- and during the imperial times Theodor Fontane
Theodor Fontane
Theodor Fontane was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist writer.-Youth:Fontane was born in Neuruppin into a Huguenot family. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to an apothecary, his father's profession. He became an...
and Adolph von Menzel
Adolph von Menzel
Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel, was a German artist noted for drawings, etchings, and paintings. Along with Caspar David Friedrich, he is considered one of the two most prominent German artists of the 19th century, and was the most successful artist of his era in Germany...
. In 1900, the Josty family sold the cafe to the widow of the founder of the Café Bauer. The Josty was modernized but retained its original name.
Twentieth Century
In the twentieth century, the cafe became an important meeting place for artists, especially of the movements of ExpressionismExpressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
and the New Objectivity
New Objectivity
The New Objectivity is a term used to characterize the attitude of public life in Weimar Germany as well as the art, literature, music, and architecture created to adapt to it...
. Paul Boldt
Paul Boldt
Paul Boldt was one of the poets of German Expressionism.Boldt was born in the town of Christefelde an der Weichsel in the countryside of West Prussia, an area which is now a part of Poland. After finishing his secondary education, he studied philology at universities in Munich, Marburg, and Berlin...
described the appearance of the cafe in a well-known 1912 sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
.
Erich Kästner
Erich Kästner
Emil Erich Kästner was a German author, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known for his humorous, socially astute poetry and children's literature.-Dresden 1899–1919:...
used the cafe as the setting for an important scene in the children's book Emil und die Detektive.
The cafe closed in 1930, and the building was destroyed in 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...
. In Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...
' film Wings of Desire
Wings of Desire
Wings of Desire is a 1987 Franco-German romantic fantasy film directed by Wim Wenders. The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of the human inhabitants and comfort those who are in distress...
, an old man attempts to find the location of the cafe but fails.