Global Cafe Chronicle

Many coffee drinkers think that cafes are a contemporary product, and some even think that Starbucks' global franchise system has brought them. This article introduces you to the most important cafes in coffee history, some of which have been through wind and rain for more than 200 years and are still open today.

Image source: Merchants Coffee House

1554-the first cafe opens in Constantinople by Shemsi of Damascus and Hekem of Aleppo

1645-the first coffee shop in Venice opened, followed by cafes in many Italian towns such as Turin, Genoa, Milan, Florence, Rome, Naples and so on.

1652-the first cafe in Oxford, England, opened by Jacob, a Turkish Jew. Since then, cafes have sprung up to become a forum visited by scholars, known as "Penny University" (when a cup of coffee cost a penny).

1652-the first London cafe opened by Pasqua Roasee in St. Michael's Alley,Cornhill, Cornhill.

1668-Edward Lloyd's coffeehouse Cafe opened in the UK, patronized by businessmen and marine insurance brokers, and eventually became the home of London's Lloyd's of London, the world's most famous insurance company.

1671-the first French cafe opens next door to the Marseilles exchange

1672-Pascal, an American who used to sell coffee to the public in St. Germain Square in Paris, opened the first French cafe.

1679-A British businessman opens Germany's first coffee shop in Hamburg

1683-Bottega Del caf é, the first coffee shop in Venice, opens

1683-Kolschitzky opens the first coffee shop in Vienna

1686-Francesco Procopio from Sicilian opened the first real French cafe Caf é de Procope in Paris, which is still open today.

1686-the first cafe opened in Regensburg, Germany

1689-the first cafe in Boston opens

1694-the first caf é in Leipzig, Germany opens

1696-New York's first cafe, The King's Arms, opens

In the eighteenth century, there were more cafes in London than there are today.

1700-YE Cafe, founded by Samuel Carpenter, opened in Pennsylvania, USA; Samuel was then lieutenant governor of colonial Pennsylvania

1702-Pennsylvania's first London Cafe opens

1712-the first coffee shop in Stuttgart, Germany opens

1713-the first coffee shop in Sugsburg, Germany opens

1720-there are hundreds of cafes in Paris

1720-Florian Florian, run by Floriono Francesconi, opens in Venice and is one of the most famous and expensive cafes

1721-the first cafe opened in Berlin, Germany

1737-the Cafe Merchants Cafe (Merchants' coffee house) opened in New York, with some calling it the true cradle of American freedom and the birthplace of the American Alliance (during the American Civil War, the federal government was called the Alliance)

1750-Cafe Greco, one of the earliest cafes in Europe, opens in Rome

1763-there are 218 cafes in Venice

1774-the Merchants Cafe in New York sent a letter to the Communications Commission in Boston proposing the establishment of an "American Alliance" (American Union)

1789-the Governor and Mayor of New York officially greeted George Washington, the first democratically elected president of the United States, at the Merchants Cafe in New York, which was destroyed by fire in 1804.

1792-Tontine Coffee House Cafe opens in New York

1860-the Caf é Central in Vienna opened; it was a gathering place for Vienna's intellectual celebrities at that time, including Hugo von Hofmanstar (Hugo von Hofmannsthal), Mount Antonin (Anton Kuh, Austrian Jewish journalist). Before 1938, it was called the "Chess School" because of the patronage of many chess players, including the Russian revolutionary Leo Trotzky. Completely renovated in 1986.

1863-Cafe Slavia opens opposite the National Grand Theater in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic

1873-London's first "coffee palace," Edinburgh Castle (Edinburgh Castle) opens to replace bars frequented by workers

1890-Caf é de Flore, Paris, opened in Paris's unique Saint-Germain Saint-Cermain-Des-Press district, a haunted place for Parisian intellectuals, writers, painters, publishers and filmmakers; the cafe was renovated around 1924-26

1894-"Caf é New York" opened in Budapest and later destroyed in World War II. It reopened in May 2006 with new art galleries and gorgeous decoration.

1912-the Caf é Nouveau Obecni Dum opened in Prague, an art-decorated cafe in the basement of the then House of Representatives (House of Representatives), next to Budapest's famous "Powder Tower".

1927-the first Espresso coffee machine was installed in the Regional Cafe (Regio's) in New York, USA, where the Italian "La Pavoni" coffee machine is now on display.

1939-the caf é Hawelka Vienna in Vienna opened, and today it is still very artistic and is one of the few traditional European cafes

1949-Chippo Coffee chain (Tchibo Coffee Chain) established in Germany

1962-Doutor Coffee Chain Coffee chain was established in Japan

1971-the first store of the Starbucks chain Starbucks Coffee Chain opened in Pike Place Market in Seattle, USA in April.

1975-"second Cup Coffee chain" (Second Cup Coffee Chain) established in Canada

1983-"Diedrich Coffee Chain Coffee chain" was established in the United States

1989-the "Literaturhaus Cafe" opened in Hamburg, which is said to be the first place in Europe to have cafes (1677), earlier than Vienna. The Literature Cafe is a real European-style cafe with a forum to attract writers from all over the world, so it is known as the "Cafe of philosophers".

1996-Caf é Einstein, Berlin in Berlin opened after refurbishment in the 1920s (1920s) style of the Vienna Caf é; (the above information is from: http://knol.google.com)

In November 1997, Sculpture time Cafe opened in Beijing.

In March 1998, Starbucks entered Taiwan and opened its first store.

In January 1999, Chinese mainland entered Starbucks and opened its first store in China and North China at Beijing International Trade.

In May 2000, Starbucks entered East China and opened its first store in East China at Libao Building, Huaihai Road, Shanghai.

In May 2000, Starbucks entered Hong Kong and opened its first store.

In August 2002, Starbucks entered Macau and opened its first store.

In October 2002, Starbucks entered South China and opened its first store in Shenzhen Citic Plaza.

In April 2005, Starbucks entered Qingdao and opened its first wholly-owned store in China.

In September 2005, Starbucks entered the Northeast and opened its first store in Dalian.

In September 2005, Starbucks entered the southwest and opened its first store in Chengdu

In September 2005, Starbucks set up the Starbucks China Education Program to help improve education in China, especially in the western region.

At the end of 2005, Starbucks established a Greater China support Center in Shanghai, which is responsible for the operation and management of Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao.

In October 2006, Starbucks acquired a majority stake in Beijing Meida Coffee Co., Ltd., and acquired the right to operate in Beijing and Tianjin.

In November 2006, Starbucks entered the northwest and opened its first store in Xi'an.

Since opening its first coffee shop at the China World Trade Center in Beijing on 11 January 1999, Chinese mainland has established more than 400 coffee shops in 31 cities and now has approximately 800 stores throughout Greater China (source: Wikipedia).

At the end of 2006, Costa opened its first store in China in Shanghai, entered the Beijing market in the second half of 2008, and rapidly developed 43 chain stores in Beijing. In April, Whitbread announced a new five-year plan to double Costa's coverage network to 3500 stores and double global sales to £1.3 billion. Obviously, the expansion of Costa in China will have a direct bearing on whether the above goals can be achieved. Costa is the number one coffee shop brand in the UK, with more than 1800 stores in 24 countries around the world (source: Beijing Business Daily).