Café Hawelka
Author: Anothertravelguide.com0 COMMENTS
In the Old City, under a not especially noticeable sign, in an unassuming street, the Café Hawelka is nonetheless always crowded. Its founder, Leopold Hawelka, lived for almost a century, and the café is still in the family. The worn velvet banquettes, wooden chairs and panelling, paintings and even the cigarette smoke that long ago suffused the walls don't seem to have changed much since its opening. The picturesque clientele is actually a mixture of locals and tourists hoping to snatch a souvenir of authentic Vienna. The latter can be recognized, however, by their hurry to down their coffee and immortalize their visit with a snapshot of what Vienna may have been, themselves within it. Designed by a student of the legendary modernist architect Adolf Loos, the café is considered to be one of the few true cafés of its era to survive. It's not without its Bohemian chaos; the waiters, in perpetual motion, invariably spill some coffee as it's delivered. No one cares, nor should they. The Hawelka dates to 1906, when it offered live music as what was then the exceedingly modern Je t'aime Bar. The Hawelka family took over in the 1930s. The history was not continuous, the war interrupting. Returning in 1945, the Hawelkas discovered that the café, unlike surrounding buildings, had miraculously survived with nary an injury. Nothing substantial has changed, except perhaps that coffee is no longer brewed upon a woodstove and the owner may not greet you at the door. After the war, the writers and artists of a divided Vienna would gather here. One wall bears posters, the others artists' works collected by the proprietor at fair prices. Andy Warhol, Arthur Miller and other foreign luminaries made this their café when visiting.
Dorotheergasse 6
Tel.: 512 82 30
SHARE:
ABOUT US • CONTACTS • RSS • FOLLOW US: 
ENG LAT
© anothertravelguide.com 2015
Anothertravelguide.com is an internet resource for independent travellers. All addresses listed on anothertravelguide.com - hotels, restaurants, shops, etc. have been tested and evaluated by our authors. All opinions are subjective and anothertravelguide.com takes no responsibility if any of these locations don't live up to your personal expectations, taste or mood, or has undergone serious changes since visited by authors and experts of anothertravelguide.com.