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Coffeehouses in Vienna Leading Up to 1848
Kate B.

Across the world, coffeehouses or cafés have played a large role in the
social life of the people. In Spain, tertulias (the discussions of the
days events and politics) occur in the cafés that spill out onto the streets,
in France coffeehouses were the centers of political discussions and
revolution, and in America they have finally gained some of the status they
have held in Europe for hundreds of years. Coffeehouses are such a central
part of life around the world that Bernard Lewis even used them in the
introduction of his book The Middle East to illustrate the impact of the
West on the Middle East. Coffee shops are centers for music, politics,
literature, and idle chatter. In Vienna, however, cafés are more than just a
place to sit and get the daily caffeine fix, they are a way of life.
Coffee was introduced to Europe by the East. The first coffeehouse was
opened in Constantinopel in the year 1554. Because of the highly educated
patrons, cafés in Constantinopel were soon known as "schools of wisdom."

In 1645 coffeehouses finally came to Europe and the first was opened on
St. Marks Square in Venice. Only five years later, the first coffeehouse in
England opened in Oxford. Because of the connect between coffee and the
East, Pope Clement VIII was asked to ban drinking coffee as a way to combat
the Ottomans infidel threat. However, when he tasted coffee, he feel
instantly in love with it and sanctioned it as an acceptable drink for
Christians. Despite its presence elsewhere in Europe, before the 1668, there
were no records of coffee in Vienna. The first record of its presence there
was in 1668 when Dimetrius Domasy traded using coffee beans.
The Turkish invasion of Vienna in 1683 brought coffee beans to the city.
Georg Franz Kolschitzky snuck through the Turkish lines and asked Polish King
Sobiesky for help. Sobieskys army defeated the Turks after their two month
siege on Vienna. Legend goes that because of his heroic actions,
Kolschitzky was given any award he desired. He chose the sacks of coffee
beans left behind by the Turks when they fled. During his trips to Turkey,
hed been introduced to coffee and knew its value. He opened the Blue
Bottle, the first coffeehouse in central Europe. Kolschitzky also invented
the kipferl, a roll resembling the Turkish emblem; munching on one
supposedly gives you the vicarious pleasure of devouring a Turk and of
Christianity's triumph over Islam.

Romantic as Kolschitzkys story may be, there is no proof of it ever
happening. In 1980 a Viennese historian by the name of Karl Teply
de-credited this popular legend. Teply found a document signed on January
12, 1685 giving the Armenian merchant Johannas Diotato an exclusive
hoffreiheit or monopoly on the brewing and serving of coffee and permission
to open the first coffeehouse in Vienna. While Teply believed that
Kolschitzky did go for help during the war, he was never a part of the coffee
trade, nor did he open the Blie Bottle, which was really not opened until
nine years after his death. It was Diotato who introduced coffee and
coffeehouses to Vienna.

By 1700, Diotato no longer had the monopoly on coffee, and four others
shared in the business. In 1703, the Milani was the most elegant coffee
house in Vienna. It had three billiard tables and offered chess, but it was
its supply of the newspaper Wienerisches Diarium that made Milani so well
known. Published today as the Wiener Zeitung, this daily newspaper is the
oldest in the world. In 1732, Bach composed Kafee-Kantate(Coffee Cantata)
part ode to coffee, part jab at the German movement to prevent women from
drinking coffee(coffee was thought to make women sterile). By 1784, there
was at least 64 coffee houses in Vienna. Of these, Café Kramer offered the
widest range of newspapers from across the empire. It became Viennas first
literary café.

By 1804, there were 89 coffeehouses in the city, and ten years later,
there were 150. The Neuners coffeehouse was the leading literary café of the
age. Some of the best known authors of the time were regular patrons,
including: Grillparzer, Lenau, Raimund, and Stifter. Neuners 1824
renovations established his newly renamed cafe as the nicest in Vienna. One
of the famous patrons was Johann Strauss, Sr., who could often be seen there.
Coffeehouses were home to some of Viennas most acclaimed writers and
musicians. Mozart frequently went to the Café Eisvogel. Franz Schubert
regularly went to the Café Bogner; he also claimed the monotonous sound of
his personal coffee grinder inspired his D-minor quartet. Beethoven
occasionally played for both friends and customers at Café Frauenhuber. The
composers Gustav Mahler and Franz Lehar, along with writer Franz Werfel,
frequented Café Sperl.

It is the atmosphere of the coffeehouses in Vienna, both 200 years ago
and today, that defines it. Coffee is both the most and the least important
aspect of the coffeehouse. Coffee is like the admission fee to the café.
This is similar to how cafés were as they just became popular in England.
They were called penny universities because a man could pick up more
knowledge in a café than pouring over books for a month; the admission fee
was the price of a cup of coffee: a single penny. One cup of coffee was all
you needed in England to spend a day sitting and reading or thinking or
merely daydreaming out the window. This attitude defines the Viennese
coffeehouse.

Coffeehouses were more than a place to drink coffee. They were a place
to meet anyone from friends to lovers, a place to relax or philosophize,
sleep or read. American cafés and coffee shops are entirely the opposite in
etiquette to their Viennese counterparts. In America it is not considered in
poor taste to request customers leave after they finish their cup of coffee.
In fact, it is considered rude to stay too long after finishing. Americans
will sit and drink several cups of coffee, leaving the café jittering. In
Vienna it is rare to drink more than one cup in a sitting, and these sittings
are often far longer than those in America. Actor Orson Welles said, "A
Vienna café is the only place where you can sit unmolested for eight hours or
longer, drink a single cup of coffee, and still be treated like a king."

Waiters continue to refill water glasses as a sign of the owners
hospitality. While this has changed slightly in the late 20th century, it
was otherwise the case leading up till then.

Coffeehouses were the center of political debate, so it is little
surprise that 1848, the year of the revolution, marked the beginning of the
Golden Age of Coffeehouses in Vienna. Their numbers increased drastically at
this time. In addition to regular cafés, there were surrogate coffeehouses
which could only sell ersatz coffee made from cereal or chicory. These
coffeehouses defined the age. They were the the center of culture for
hundred of years, and have remained so through the 20th century.

Bibliography

Coffee In Europe
http://www.realcoffee.co.uk/Article.asp?Cat=history&page=3

Dornberg, John. The Vienna Coffeehouse: A 300-year-old Way of Life
http://www.germanlife.com/Archives/1998/9808_01.html

The Coffee House
http://www.famoushotels.org/famoushotels/ARCHIVES/COFFEE_
HISTORY/coffeehtm/meninblack.htm

Where History is a Regular Guest http://www.famoushotels.org/famoushotels/ARCHIVES/COFFEE_HISTORY/coffeehtm/cen
viehist.htm

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