Wienerwald (restaurant) facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Founded | 1955, in Munich, Bavaria, Germany |
| Headquarters | Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, Germany |
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Key people
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Friedrich Jahn, Evelyn Peitzner, Margot Steinberg |
| Services | Fast-food (hendl, schnitzel) restaurants franchising |
Wienerwald GmbH is a German company that runs a chain of fast-food restaurants. They are famous for their delicious chicken, especially a type of roast chicken called hendl, and also schnitzel. The name "Wienerwald" means "Vienna Woods" in German.
As of 2022, there were five Wienerwald restaurants in Germany and three in Egypt. In the past, the company also had restaurants in many other countries. These included Austria, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.
Contents
The Story of Wienerwald
How It All Started
Wienerwald was started in 1955 by a restaurant owner named Friedrich Jahn. He opened the first restaurant in Munich, Germany. The company grew very quickly. By 1978, it had become the largest restaurant chain in Europe. It had more than 1600 restaurants!
Big Challenges and Changes
In 1978, Wienerwald bought another restaurant chain in the United States called Lum's. This chain had 273 restaurants. However, Wienerwald faced problems in the US. Many people thought "Wienerwald" meant a hot dog place, not a chicken restaurant. This, along with the fast growth, led to huge debts.
Because of these problems, many restaurants in the US and Europe had to close. In 1982, Wienerwald had to declare bankruptcy, which means they couldn't pay their debts. They had to sell off their 880 restaurants in the United States.
Bouncing Back and Modernizing
After the bankruptcy, the chain recovered, but it never became as big as it once was. Sales and the number of restaurants continued to go down. Many international markets were left behind. Wienerwald faced bankruptcy again in 2003 and 2007. This led to more restaurant closures and job losses.
In 2007, Friedrich Jahn's daughters, Margot Steinberg and Evelyn Peitzner, bought the company. This started a new chapter for Wienerwald. To become strong again, they updated their restaurants and their idea. They changed from a "casual dining" style, where you are served at your table, to more of a "fast food" style. Now, customers usually order and pick up their food at the counter. They also made the inside of the restaurants look more modern.
Recent Years and New Ideas
In June 2009, the first Wienerwald in Turkey opened in Istanbul. It grew quickly to 30 locations, but the company later left the Turkish market. A restaurant also opened in Bucharest, Romania, in April 2011, but Wienerwald also left Romania.
By the end of 2017, there were 23 restaurants left in Germany, mostly in Bavaria. There were also three in Greater Cairo, Egypt, and one each in Budapest, Hungary, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
In the years that followed, the number of restaurants continued to decrease. After some changes, a new Wienerwald design was introduced in locations like Torfhaus and Hildesheim in Germany. A Wienerwald restaurant in Munich was updated in mid-2023. Some other restaurants decided to continue on their own, using a similar style but under different names. In Hanover, the last restaurant of the older style operated under the Wienerwald name until the end of 2023. After that, the right to use the name ended, and it continued under a new name.
Wienerwald in Austria
In Austria, the Wienerwald restaurants were sold to a different owner by Friedrich Jahn in 1986. This meant the Austrian restaurants became a separate company. Today, this separate company, Wienerwald Restaurants GmbH, runs eight casual dining restaurants in Austria with a similar menu.
More to Explore
- List of fast-food chicken restaurants
