(plural: Schanigärten) is the

Austro-Bavarian Bavarian (; ), alternately Austro-Bavarian, is a group of Upper German varieties spoken in the south-east of the German language area, including the German state of Bavaria, most of Austria, and South Tyrol in Italy. Prior to 1945, Bavaria ...

term for tables and chairs set up on the

sidewalk A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English, South African English), or footpath (Hiberno-English, Irish English, Indian English, Australian English, New Zealand English) is a path along the side of a road. Usually constr ...

in front of eating and drinking places. Unlike normal

beer garden A beer garden (German: ''Biergarten'') is an outdoor area in which beer and food are served, typically at shared tables shaded by trees. Beer gardens originated in Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital city, in the 19th century, and remain co ...

s (''Gastgärten''), the customers actually sit on public property. Originally, ''Schanigärten'' referred only to

Viennese coffee house The Viennese coffee house (, ) is a typical institution of Vienna that played an important part in shaping Viennese culture. Since October 2011 the "Viennese Coffee House Culture" is listed as an " Intangible Cultural Heritage" in the Austrian ...

s, but now the expression is used in other parts of

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 ...

and for other types of establishments like

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

s and

tavern A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...

Regulations

In order to operate a , an establishment needs an authorization according to road traffic or trade regulations, which is valid from March 1 to November 15. The is a very attractive proposition for the owners of an establishment, as they only pay a very limited yearly fee of several euros per square meter to the municipality. Operations like ice cream stores can thereby effectively multiply their seating area on public property at minimal cost. An extreme example is the ice cream stor
Zanoni
in the Vienna city center that extends its over three quarters of the adjacent public square and has set up glass separators to prevent side walk users from crossing the privatized zone. Furthermore, permissions are also granted to set up Schanigärten not on the sidewalk but on the actual driving lanes or parking lanes, reducing the number of available parking spaces.

Popularity during Covid-19 Pandemic

With many restrictions in place due to the pandemic, the indoor seating capacity is sharply reduced as to maintain the distance between tables. This causes many establishments to earn less revenues. Adding or expanding the outdoor eating area can help the establishments recoup the revenue. Many cities around the world have allowed the Schanigärten to be set up on the parking lanes in front of the gastronomic establishments. The popularity means the Schanigärten can more or less continue through the winter in some cities in the Northern Hemisphere.

References

{{reflist
Wirtschaftskammer Wien - Schanigarten-Leitfaden
(PDF-Datei) Types of drinking establishment