Fatal impact of the epidemic on Vienna Cafe several centennial Vienna cafes have received government funding

Cafes have a history of more than 300 years in Vienna, and for locals, cafes are a part of life. The phrase "I'm not at home, in the coffee shop, I'm not in the coffee shop, on the way to the coffee shop" by the Austrian poet and prose writer Peter Ettenberg (Peter Altenberg) has become a well-known local saying.

On the streets of Vienna, people can see cafes connected with situational restaurants, bookstores, bars, video shops, opera houses and so on. These cafes are often hundreds of years old, and they are not only a part of people's lives, but also represent the ancient royal city. UNESCO attaches particular importance to the traditional preservation of the Vienna Caf é, of which 48 have been designated as intangible cultural heritage, all of which represent the cultural essence of the Vienna Caf é.

-Caf é Central interior scene-

The cafe, which survived the war and the financial crisis and survived many difficult times, collapsed under COVID-19. The uncertainty caused by the epidemic has led to a significant loss of revenue in cafes. The number of tourists has decreased and the city has been closed for many times, all shops cannot be opened to the outside world, and locals are not allowed to go out to spend, which makes the turnover of the Vienna Cafe suffer a great loss. The Vienna Chamber of Commerce predicts that 20% of Vienna's 2100 cafes will have to go out of business in the next few years.

-Caf é Demel-the Viennese government saw these established cafes struggling to hold on and felt that they could not go on like this. After all, if these cafes fail, there will be a lot less "interesting souls" in this kind of city. So recently, the Vienna government announced that it would work with UniCredit, Bluecode (mobile payment software) and the Vienna Chamber of Commerce to launch a campaign to save the iconic Viennese Cafe on January 15, 2022, and named it "Wir lieben unser Kaffeehaus".

-Caf é Sperl-

The campaign promised financial assistance to established cafes that were in trouble during the closure, as well as financial incentives and fixed donations to boost consumption. But the activity is not long-term, and when the organization runs out of funds, the activity will end. The event was first initiated by a private club called Das Wiener Kaffeehaus Club in 2020, hoping to save these established cafes. The club also offered a rent of 5000 euros at the event. So far, the campaign has raised 100000 euros.

-Caf é Dommayer-

Consumers only need to use Bluecode software to pay in designated cafes, which will receive a reward of 5 euros no matter how much they spend, but there will be an upper limit. Cafes will receive rewards at a fixed time of the month, while bonuses exceeding the upper limit will be shared equally among the participating cafes. It is hoped that the cafes can also help each other.

-Caf é Mozart-

Peter Hank, an economic affairs councilor in Vienna, said at a news conference: "the Vienna Cafe is an important part of our city culture. Many great Austrian writers and artists have also taken inspiration from the city's cafes, so they hope to get locals to support their favorite cafes through these activities.

Unfortunately, Caf é Sperlhof, known as the "chess and card museum", was not involved. I hope these historic cafes will survive the epidemic and continue to shine in the future.

Photo Source: Internet