Demel (colloquially ''der Demel'') is a famous

pastry shop Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" suggests m ...

and chocolaterie established in 1786 in Vienna, Austria. The company bears the title of a Purveyor to the Imperial and Royal Court (''k.u.k. Hofzuckerbäcker'') up to today.

Location

The building is located in the central

Innere Stadt The Innere Stadt (; Central Bavarian: ''Innare Stod'') is the 1st municipal Districts of Vienna, district of Vienna () located in the center of the Austrian capital. The Innere Stadt is the old town of Vienna. Until the city boundaries were expa ...

district on Kohlmarkt 14 near Hofburg Palace. The interior was designed by Portois and Fix decorators in a Neo-baroque style. The white-aproned waitresses — the ''Demelinerinnen'' — usually address the customers in a traditional honorific third person style, "''Haben schon gewählt?''" or "''Wollen etwas zu sich nehmen, wenn belieben?''". The cabaret artist Helmut Qualtinger extolled their timeless quality in his song ''Die Demelinerinnen''. Demel temporarily had one additional location in Salzburg, which was closed in March 2012. The company formerly had a small cafe at The Plaza's Retail Collection in New York City, but this location has since closed (as of March 2010). The corporate website indicates they are continuing to look for a new location to operate in New York.

History

The ''k.k. Hofzuckerbäckerei'' pastry shop was founded on Michaelerplatz by Ludwig Dehne, a confectioner from Württemberg. Upon his early death in 1799, the business was continued by his widow for their minor son August Dehne. In 1813 she purchased the house on Michaelerplatz 14. August Dehne inherited the company in 1832 and successfully managed the business, however, as his son pursued an academic career, he sold the company to his journeyman Christoph Demel in 1857. Renamed ''Ch. Demel's Söhne'' in 1867, Christoph Demel's sons Joseph and Karl continued the business and were granted the title of a purveyor to the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

court by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria in 1874. When in 1888 the old

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (literally:"Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater"), originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in Vi ...

on Michaelerplatz was demolished combined with a general refurbishment of the whole square, they moved the confectionery around the corner to Kohlmarkt, where the company is still located today in its original building. In the heyday of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, notable customers included Empress

Elisabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sc ...

(''Sisi''), Princess Pauline von Metternich, and actress

Katharina Schratt Katharina Schratt (11 September 1853 – 17 April 1940) was an Austrian actress who became "the uncrowned Empress of Austria" as a ''confidante'' of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, Franz Joseph. Life Katharina Schratt was born in Baden bei Wi ...

. During the Austrian '' Anschluss'' to Nazi Germany 1938–45, the Vienna ''Gauleiter''

Baldur von Schirach Baldur Benedikt von Schirach (9 May 1907 – 8 August 1974) was a German politician who is best known for his role as the Nazi Party national youth leader and head of the Hitler Youth from 1931 to 1940. He later served as ''Gauleiter'' and ''Re ...

and his wife Henriette were regulars here. The company was headed by Demel's heirs until 1972, when the entrepreneur

Udo Proksch Udo Proksch (29 May 1934 in Rostock, Germany – 27 June 2001 in Graz, Austria) was an Austrian businessman and industrialist. In 1991, he was convicted of the murder of six people as part of a major insurance fraud. Proksch died in prison. ' ...

bought it and established the ''Club 45'' on the first floor, a popular venue of the Vienna high society. After Proksch was arrested for his involvement in the ''

Lucona ''Lucona'' was a ship sunk in the Indian Ocean on 23 January 1977 by a bomb planted by Austrian businessman Udo Proksch, as part of an insurance fraud. Proksch, the owner of the cargo, also then-owner of famous Viennese confectioners Demel, claime ...

'' affair in 1989, the

Raiffeisen Bank Raiffeisenbank refers to cooperative banks in Europe that are rooted in the early credit unions of Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen. The name is found in: * Raiffeisen Bankengruppe (Austria), Austrian group of cooperative banks. ** Raiffeisen Zentralba ...

became the owner of the famous company. In 2002 the

Do & Co DO & CO Aktiengesellschaft is an Austrian catering company, headquartered in Vienna. It is active in segments such as airline catering, train catering, and international events catering. The company also provides services through its restauran ...

restaurants and catering company took over Demel. Demel-Sign

Legal issues

In the early decades of the twentieth century, a legal battle over the use of the label "The Original Sacher Torte" developed between the Hotel Sacher and the Demel bakery. Eduard Sacher, son of

Franz Sacher Franz Sacher (19 December 1816 – 11 March 1907) was an Austrian confectioner, best known as the inventor of the Sachertorte. Biography According to Sacher's son Eduard, in 1832 Austria's minister of foreign affairs, Prince Metternich, ordere ...

, the inventor of Sachertorte, had completed his own recipe of his father's cake during his time at Demel, which was the first establishment to offer the "Original" cake. Following the death of Eduard's widow Anna in 1930 and the bankruptcy of the Hotel Sacher in 1934, Eduard Sacher's son (also named Eduard Sacher) found employment at Demel and brought to the bakery the sole distribution right for an ''Eduard-Sacher-Torte''. The first differences of opinion arose in 1938, when the new owners of the Hotel Sacher began to sell Sacher Tortes from vendor carts under the trademarked name "The Original Sacher Torte". After interruptions brought about by the Second World War and the ensuing Allied occupation, the hotel owners sued Demel in 1954, with the hotel asserting its trademark rights and the bakery claiming it developed and bought the title "Original Sacher Torte". Over the next seven years, both parties waged an intense legal war over several of the dessert's specific characteristics, including the change of the name, the second layer of

jam Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and entertai ...

in the middle of the cake, and the substitution of

margarine Margarine (, also , ) is a spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The spread was orig ...

for butter in the baking of the cake. The author Friedrich Torberg, who was a frequent guest at both establishments, served as a witness during this process and testified that, during the lifetime of Anna Sacher, the cake was never covered with marmalade or cut through the middle. In 1963 both parties agreed on an out of court settlement that gave the Hotel Sacher the rights to the phrase "The Original Sachertorte" and gave the Demel the rights to decorate its tortes with a triangular seal that reads ''Eduard-Sacher-Torte''.

Demel Museum

The Vienna site features a museum with artifacts about the history of the Imperial chocolate-making bakery.

References

External links