Café Central is a traditional
Viennese café located at
Herrengasse 14 in the
Innere Stadt first district of
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
,
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
. The café occupies the ground floor of the former Bank and Stockmarket Building, today called the Palais Ferstel after its architect
Heinrich von Ferstel.
History
The café was opened in 1876, and in the late 19th century it became a key meeting place of the Viennese intellectual scene. Key regulars included:
Peter Altenberg,
Theodor Herzl,
Alfred Adler,
Egon Friedell,
Hugo von Hofmannsthal,
Anton Kuh,
Adolf Loos,
Leo Perutz,
Robert Musil,
Stefan Zweig,
Alfred Polgar,
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
and
Leon Trotsky. In January 1913 alone,
Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...
,
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...
, and
Stalin were patrons of the establishment. Tarot games of the
Tarock family were played regularly here and
Tapp Tarock was especially popular between the wars.
[''Café Central Vienna'']
- website. Retrieved 1 Oct 2020.
The café was often referred to as the "Chess school" (''Die Schachhochschule'') because of the presence of many chess players who used the first floor for their matches.
Members of the
Vienna Circle of
logical positivists held many meetings at the café
before and after
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.
A well known story is that when
Victor Adler objected to
Count Berchtold, foreign minister of Austria-Hungary, that war would provoke revolution in Russia, even if not in the
Habsburg monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...
, he replied: "And who will lead this revolution? Perhaps Mr. Bronstein (Leon Trotsky) sitting over there at the Cafe Central?"
[ A. J. P. Taylor, in The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848-1918 (1980)]
The café closed at the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. In 1975, the Palais Ferstel was renovated and the Central was newly opened, although in a different part of the building. In 1986, it was fully renovated once again.
Today it is both a tourist spot and a popular café marked by its place in literary history.
Gallery
File:Cafe Central in Vienna interior near entrance.JPG, Cafe Central in Vienna interior near entrance with statue of Peter Altenberg
File:Cafe Central in Vienna interior near portraits.JPG, Cafe Central in Vienna interior near portraits of Empress Elisabeth of Austria
Elisabeth (born Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria; 24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898), nicknamed Sisi or Sissi, was Empress of Austria and List of Hungarian consorts, Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Franz Joseph I of Austri ...
and Franz Joseph I of Austria
References in literature and popular culture
* The cafe appears in a pivotal scene in the 1998 novel ''The Magic Circle'' by
Katherine Neville.
* An analogue for the cafe called Cafe Ferstel appears in Vienna in the video game ''
Sunless Sea.''
* The Cafe Central is the focal point of the 2023 literary work and stage play 'One Lump or Two? - Mister Hitler'] by Jonathan R P Taylor.
See also
*
List of restaurants in Vienna
References
External links
Café Central website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cafe Central
Coffeehouses and cafés in Vienna
Buildings and structures in Innere Stadt
Vienna Circle
Jews and Judaism in Vienna
1876 establishments in Austria
19th-century architecture in Austria