Griechenbeisl ("Greek
bistro" / "Greek bar" - c.f.
Viennese German ''Beisl'': "bar" / "pub") is the oldest
restaurant
A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
in
Vienna,
Austria founded in 1447.
It is located on Fleischmarkt 11 near the
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church.
The restaurant derives its name from the
Levantine Levantine may refer to:
* Anything pertaining to the Levant, the region centered around modern Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan, including any person from the Levant
** Syria (region), corresponding to the modern countries of the Lev ...
merchants, who lived in the
vicinity of the building, and the intensive trade relations between Vienna and the Orient since the time of the
Babenberger period.
The first documentary mention of the Griechenbeisl dates back to 1447. Around 1500, the building later to become part of (and named for) the
Greek quarter was called "Zum gelben Adler" ("At (the sign of) the Yellow Eagle"). In later records the building is referred to as a "guest house" - this name being associated with a tower forming part of the former town fortifications of circa 1200 and possibly incorporated later into a
Late Gothic
International Gothic is a period of Gothic art which began in Burgundy, France, and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread very widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period, which was introduced by t ...
residential building in the 14th century. Nearer the present the Griechenbeisl remained in business under the name "Zum Goldenen Engel" (at the (sign of the) Golden Angel) (1762) or "Reichenberger Beisl". When Greek and Levantine merchants arrived around the middle of the seventeenth century, the area into which they moved became known as the Greek quarter. It was thus that the guest house acquired its present epithet "Greek". The food that it served, however was always of the traditional
Viennese kind.
Historically important is the year 1852 when the host Leopold Schmied decided to bring the completely new "
Pilsner Urquell" from
Pilsen in
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
to Vienna for the first time.
In the 17th century, the singer and bagpiper
Marx Augustin regularly appeared here.
See also
*
List of oldest companies
This list of the oldest companies in the world includes brands and companies, excluding associations and educational, government, or religious organizations. To be listed, a brand or company name must remain operating, either in whole or in part, ...
References
''Article uses the text translated from
Griechenbeisl
Griechenbeisl ("Greek bistro" / "Greek bar" - c.f. Viennese German ''Beisl'': "bar" / "pub") is the oldest restaurant in Vienna, Austria founded in 1447.
It is located on Fleischmarkt 11 near the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, Vienna, Holy Tri ...
on
German Wikipedia
The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia.
Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...
retrieved on 24 February 2017.''
External links
Homepage in GermanFacebook page
Restaurants in Vienna
Companies established in the 15th century
15th-century establishments in Austria
{{Austria-company-stub