Café Museum facts for kids
Café Museum is a famous Viennese café. It is located in the first district of Vienna, Austria. The café first opened its doors in 1899. A well-known architect named Adolf Loos designed its first interior. Soon, the café became a popular meeting spot for artists in Vienna.
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Where is Café Museum?
The café is on the ground floor of a building. This building is at the corner of Friedrichstraße 6 and Operngasse 7. It is in the first district of Vienna, Austria. Many interesting places are close by. These include the Naschmarkt, Karlsplatz, and St. Charles's Church. The Secession Building and the Academy of Fine Arts are also nearby.
History of the Café
The building where Café Museum is located was built in 1872. Ludwig Frisch opened the café in 1899. He named it after another café, the Café zum Museum. That café was next to the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
The first design of Café Museum was very simple. It used plain bentwood chairs. These chairs were made by the company Gebrüder Thonet. Because of this simple style, a writer named Ludwig Hevesi called it Café Nihilismus. This means "café nihilism" or "nothingness." Even the outside of the café is simple. Today, you can only see "Café Museum" in gold letters on a white background.
In the early 1930s, the café got a new look. An architect named Josef Zotti redesigned it. He was a student of Josef Hoffmann. Zotti added cozy booths and half-round sofas. These sofas had red fake leather. This made the café feel like a comfortable living room. This was very different from its first simple design.
In 2003, the café was renovated again. They tried to bring back Loos's original design. Some of Zotti's original furniture went to the Viennese Imperial Furniture Collection. Some people thought the Loos-style renovation was not truly authentic. They also found the new furniture uncomfortable.
The café was remodeled again in 2003. It no longer looked like Adolf Loos had designed it. At the end of 2009, Café Museum closed. But it reopened in the summer of 2010. Irmgard and Berndt Querfeld took over running it.
Inside the Café
Interior Design
Adolf Loos believed that architects should focus on how things work. He thought they should not focus on art. So, his design for Café Museum was very plain. This was a new and bold idea when the café first opened.
When the café was renovated in 2010, architect Peter Schwarz followed Josef Zotti's design. The half-round sofas are now covered in red velvet. Before, they had red fake leather. The metal lamps were also brought back. They are made of chromium-nickel steel. These lamps reflect the inside of the café. The light comes from inside a metal globe. It shines upwards and reflects off a smaller half-globe on the ceiling. Today, the café can welcome 207 guests.
Coffee House Readings
Since October 2011, Café Museum has hosted regular readings. Authors come to read their works. Some famous authors who have read there include Daniel Glattauer and Christine Nöstlinger. Other readers include Franzobel, Lisa Lercher, Armin Thurnher, Susanne Scholl, Gerhard Loibelsberger, and Elfriede Hammerl.
Famous Visitors
Many famous people visited the café in the early 1900s. Some of these regular guests were Peter Altenberg, Joseph Schmidt, and Richard Tauber. Other notable visitors included Alban Berg, Hermann Broch, and Elias Canetti. Artists like Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, and Egon Schiele also came. Writers like Karl Kraus, Robert Musil, Leo Perutz, Joseph Roth, Roda Roda, Georg Trakl, Franz Werfel, and Ernst Jandl were also regulars. The composer Franz Lehár and architect Otto Wagner also enjoyed the café.
See also
In Spanish: Café Museum para niños
