{"id":236,"date":"2026-06-16T19:32:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T17:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cafebraeunerhof.at\/?page_id=236"},"modified":"2026-07-21T19:06:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T17:06:17","slug":"history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cafebraeunerhof.at\/en\/history\/","title":{"rendered":"History"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n \"\" \"\"
\n

Vienna since 1920<\/h1>
Legends don’t simply appear \u2014 they are written over decades<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\n
\n \"\"
Dance in \u201eSans Souci\u201c<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n

WITHOUT A CARE<\/h2>

… was the caf\u00e9\u2019s name when it first opened in 1920 \u2014 in French, naturally: Sans Souci<\/strong>, without a care. A little of that quiet self-assurance can still be felt today.<\/p>\n

The Br\u00e4unerhof never wanted to be one of those grand Ringstrasse caf\u00e9s, heavy with crystal chandeliers, stucco and wood panlling. Nor did it ever become the fashionable bohemian caf\u00e9 with carefully mismatched vintage chairs and \u201cthird wave coffee\u201d on the menu.<\/p>\n

It is a classic away from the beaten paths \u2014 yet only a short distance away from them. Despite all renovations, it has no need for the kind of lavish d\u00e9cor that tries so hard to suggest cosiness. Why would it? To borrow from Karl Kraus: we bring the cosiness ourselves.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n
\n
\n \"\"
Politics in a caf\u00e9: ORF TV confrontation on the 1996 Vienna election<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n

THE STALLBURG<\/h2>

… gives Stallburggasse its name. The Habsburgs once kept their stables and armoury in this part of the Hofburg; today it is home to the Lipizzaner horses. The Br\u00e4unerhof, however, has never been a place for imperial nostalgia. Here, timelessness manages perfectly well without a nod to the monarchy.<\/p>\n

The writer Alfred Polgar<\/strong> lived in an apartment above the caf\u00e9 and left us a glimpse of the building\u2019s past. Returning in the evening from his rounds of the city\u2019s coffee houses, he would see the bodyguard of Engelbert Dollfuss<\/strong> \u2014 Chancellor of Austria\u2019s authoritarian corporative state and another resident of the building \u2014 sitting under a dim lamp, deeply absorbed in detective novels.<\/p>\n

The Br\u00e4unerhof never became a politicians\u2019 caf\u00e9, even if an important televised debate for the Vienna municipal election once took place here. Nor did it become a literary caf\u00e9, even if one of post-war Austria\u2019s most important writers had his regular seat here: Thomas Bernhard.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n
\n
\n \"\"
Thomas Bernhard, standing in front of Caf\u00e9 Br\u00e4unerhof (Vienna 1986) \u00a9 Sepp Dreissinger<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n

THE COFFEEHOUSE-GOING AFFLICTION<\/h2>

… is a term coined by and very much in the style of Thomas Bernhard: \u2014 the compulsive need to seek out coffee houses. \u201cIt is enough for me to go to the coffee house now and then and watch the others talk,\u201d<\/strong> he once said in an interview, playing down this particular \u201cillness\u201d. But it was also the Br\u00e4unerhof\u2019s generous selection of newspapers that drew him here.<\/p>\n

“It is hardly bearable for me to spend a single day without a newspaper.”<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

At times, however, the newspaper was more than a welcome provocation, a spur to contradiction and a motor for Bernhard\u2019s writing. For a writer not exactly known for his love of mankind, it could also do what today\u2019s mobile phone rarely manages: offer protection from unwanted greetings of every kind.<\/p>\n

The attention and the camera lens of Sepp Dreissinger<\/strong>, doyen of Austrian photographic art, were thoroughly welcome, however. With his portraits of Thomas Bernhard inside and in front of Caf\u00e9 Br\u00e4unerhof, he contributed decisively not only to the author’s public image, but also to the Br\u00e4unerhof’s reputation as the “Bernhard caf\u00e9.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n
\n
\n \"\"
Thomas Bernhard, sitting in Caf\u00e9 Br\u00e4unerhof (Vienna 1988) \u00a9 Sepp Dreissinger<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n

WITTGENSTEIN\u2019S NEPHEW<\/h2>

… is a story by Thomas Bernhard in which Caf\u00e9 Br\u00e4unerhof plays an important role. The narrator, in true Bernhard fashion, naturally finds plenty to object to.<\/p>\n

“I have always detested the typical Viennese coffeehouse, famous the world over, because I find everything about it inimical to me. Yet for many years it was at the Br\u00e4unerhof that I felt at home\u2026”
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Thomas Bernhard, Wittgensteins Neffe<\/em>, Suhrkamp 1982<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n
\n
\n \"\"
Atmosphere through music: the \u201cBr\u00e4unerhof Trio\u201d<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n

THE MYTH OF THE WRITERS’ CAF\u00c9<\/h2>

The idea that every proper Viennese coffee house must also be a literary caf\u00e9 belongs to the same family of myths as the belief that people go there mainly to drink coffee.<\/p>\n

What truly defines the Viennese coffee house is its atmosphere \u2014 something that even UNESCO\u2019s<\/strong> recognition of Viennese coffee-house culture in 2011 could only partly capture. To paraphrase Augustine: if no one asks me what makes Caf\u00e9 Br\u00e4unerhof what it is, I know. But the moment I try to explain it, I no longer do.<\/p>\n

Stories about writers\u2019 caf\u00e9s settle over Vienna\u2019s coffee-house world like the little cap of whipped cream<\/strong> on an Einsp\u00e4nner<\/strong>. Sit down, and you will soon be told which distinguished backsides of Viennese cultural life have occupied that very chair before you.<\/p>\n

Here in the Br\u00e4unerhof, however, there are still a few seats left where history has yet to be written.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-236","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafebraeunerhof.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafebraeunerhof.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafebraeunerhof.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafebraeunerhof.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafebraeunerhof.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/cafebraeunerhof.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":535,"href":"https:\/\/cafebraeunerhof.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/236\/revisions\/535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafebraeunerhof.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}