Only in Vienna by Duncan J.D. Smith

75 1 st District Vienna’s traditional coffee houses may share a particular atmosphere yet each has its own individual charm. The grandest include the Café Central on Herrengasse and Sigmund Freud’s beloved Café Landtmann on the Ring, both of which once drew intellec- tuals and artists with their freewheeling conversa- tion and cosmopolitan air. Meanwhile, tucked away in the backstreets is the disarmingly modest Café Hawelka on Dorotheer- gasse, where the house speciality is jam-filled Buchteln served each evening at 9pm. Out in the suburbs is Café Sperl on Gumpendorferstrasse, once a favourite of Adolf Hitler, Café Goldegg on Argentinierstrasse, with its billiard tables, and Café Weimar on Währinger Strasse, frequented by well-heeled punters from the nearby Volksoper. This author’s favourite is Café Bräunerhof on Stallburggasse, just behind the stables of the Spanish Riding School. It was writer Thomas Bernhard’s favourite, too, and little has changed since his time. Mobile telephones are restricted to a special booth and the toilets are vintage to say the least – and yet it’s a delight. Come here on a weekday morning and the atmosphere is almost studious, with just a few customers thumbing the day’s papers. Visit on a Saturday and it’s riotous by comparison, with a quartet belting out traditional Viennese Schrammelmusik . Other places of interest nearby: 21, 22, 28, 31 Tradition is everything at the Café Bräunerhof