Café Gerbeaud
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Café Gerbeaud, situated at Vörösmarty tér 7 in
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
, the capital of
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, is a traditional
coffeehouse A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...
opened in 1858. It was built in
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style. In 2009 Café Gerbeaud opened its second confectionery in
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,
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.


History

The company was started in 1858 by Henrik Kugler, the third child of a confectionery dynasty. He acquired his knowledge and experience mostly during his
journeyman A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...
ship in eleven European capitals including Paris. After that, he opened a confectionery at József nádor Square which was soon considered one of the best in Pest. Among the specialties were Chinese and Russian teas as well as his ice creations which were soon named "the best ice in Pest". In order to be closer to the city center, Kugler in 1870 moved the store to Vörösmarty tér, called "Gizella Square" at the time, on the ground floor of the head office of
Hungarian Commercial Bank of Pest The Hungarian Commercial Bank of Pest (, PMKB, occasionally referred to simply as "Commercial Bank") was Hungary's first modern bank, established in 1840–1841. It was nationalized in the early Communist era and repurposed in 1950 as the Hungari ...
. The customers of that time most favoured his coffees, liqueurs and candy. But Kugler Pies and Mignons were also well known, because it was possible to take them home for the first time, wrapped on a paper tray. Known guests were, among others, Ferenc Deák and
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
and Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of Hungary. In 1882 while travelling in Paris, Kugler first met Emil Gerbeaud and immediately recognized his talent and spirit of enterprise. In 1884 Kugler finally invited him to Budapest to declare him to his associate. Later, Gerbeaud took over Kugler's store piece by piece and retained the original name. Emil Gerbeaud, descended from a confectionery family, was born in
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and gained experience in Germany, France and England. He performed a number of innovations, e.g. by expanding the selection with numerous products like butter creams, Parisian crèmes, hundreds of kinds of short cakes, candy and kirsch candy. To offer this broad palette to his clientele, he hired a number of employees for sales and service. By the end of 1899, he had about 150 employees, many of whom only came to Budapest to learn and work with Gerbeaud. Due to his sense of business, by and by he equipped the bakery with modern machinery. Thus, the name Gerbeaud became a synonym for quality and bakery art. Since his clientele loved the paper boxes for takeaway pies that were already introduced by Henrik Kugler, Gerbeaud continued with this tradition and started to design these himself. Gerbeaud was also internationally acclaimed. He was invited a jury member both to the Brussels world fair (1897) and the Paris world fair (1900), whereat in Paris he was awarded the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
. He was further awarded numerous national and international prizes. Eventually, Henrik Kugler died, whereupon Gerbeaud founded a public company named ‘Kuglers Nachfolger Gerbeaud AG’ (Kuglers Successor Gerbeaud PLC) to carry on the business. Since Gerbeaud set value on modern working conditions, he used automobiles alongside horse carriages from 1909 on. File:Cafe Gerbeaud 03.JPG File:Café Gerbeaud Budapest.jpg, The confectionery File:Budapest - Gerbeaud - 1438.jpg, One of the saloons File:Gerbeaudinnen.JPG, Café Gerbeaud (inside) Café Gerbeaud, Budapest.jpg, Cake menu Café Gerbeaud, Budapest1.jpg, Cake menu For the interior design of his confectionery, Gerbeaud in 1910 took advice from Henrik Darilek who mainly used marble, exotic woods and bronze. The ceiling's stucco was created in the
Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...
style of
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. The chandeliers were inspired by
Maria Theresa of Austria Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position in her own right. She was the sovereig ...
. The guests were offered as French tables as well as
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ones which Gerbeaud had delivered from the world fair in Paris. World War I was felt, but the company survived even that. Gerbeaud died on 8 November 1919, and bequeathed the store to his wife Ester who headed it until 1940. The shop was nationalized in 1948 and renamed "Vörösmarty", after the poet
Mihály Vörösmarty Mihály Vörösmarty (archaically English: Michael Vorosmarthy 1 December 180019 November 1855) was a Hungarians, Hungarian poet and dramatist who lived and worked in the Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867), Kingdom of Hungary. Biography He was ...
, a name it held until March 1984, when it returned to its historical name. In 1995, German businessman Erwin Franz Müller bought "Gerbeaud" and had it renovated extensively. The traces of the last 50 years have thus disappeared, and today the café shines in the style built by Emil Gerbeaud.


See also

* List of restaurants in Hungary


References


External links

*
the Hungarian Gerbeaud family's homepage
{{Budapest Belváros-Lipótváros Purveyors to the Imperial and Royal Court Coffeehouses and cafés in Budapest Buildings and structures in Budapest Restaurants established in 1858 1858 establishments in the Austrian Empire Restaurants in Budapest