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CAFÉ TOMASELLI - SALZBURG
Mozart’s Favorite Coffee Hangout in Festival City

Cafe Tomaselli Salzburg photoI write this sitting in a Starbucks, enjoying a tradition that goes back 300 years to cobblestone streets of Austria. While Vienna is perhaps more associated with the café culture (see Vienna Traditional Cafes), lounging and communing with your fellows with a coffee and a cake as the world goes by, it can be argued - and often is - over a cup of the black caffeine elixir, that the café style of Europe originated in Salzburg, the city of Mozart. The advance of invading Turkish armies was halted to the east of Vienna in the late 1600’s but their strong black drink of ground beans continued to conquer the aristocracy of Europe, served in the royal court of the Hapsburgs with the bitter rich taste complimented with cakes and sweets, until an enterprising entrepreneur had the idea to offer it street side to the burgeoning middle classes in the first years of the 18th Century,.

Terrace at Tomacelli Cafe Salzburg Old Market Square photoThe Café Tomaselli in the heart of old Salzburg, on the Old Market Square (Alter Markt), a few minutes stroll from the Festival Spielhaus and Mozart’s Birthplace (see Mozart Museums in Salzburg) is claimed as the oldest café in Austria. Simply called “das Tomaselli” by the locals, this traditional café is founded in 1705, is regarded as the oldest continuously serving café in Austria. Curiously the founding date above the door says 1703, but what’s a quibble of a year or two, perhaps because it was originally in another location, but then moved to its prime spot on the market square near the cathedral, though it didn’t become Tomaselli’s until master coffee maker and chocolatier Karl Tomaselli took over the location in 1753.

Cakes at Cafe Tomaselli Salzburg  photoGeneration after generation, the café and upstairs terrace attracted the best of society. The Café Tomaselli was a favorite spot of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his wife Constanze before their move to Vienna (see Where Mozart Died). Constanze actually lived in the connected building above with her second husband Georg Nissen and two children after moving back to Salzburg (see Mozart Graves St Sebastiens Cemetery). You can find a long list of famous historical figures, politicians, artists, actors and musicians in the guestbook . Some other local celebrities who found a favorite table at Tomaselli’s include Max Rheinhardt, the founder of the Salzburg Festival, Hugo von Hoffmannsthal, and Austrian Formula 1 World Champion Nikki Lauda.

It is the place in town to see and be seen, around the corner from the cathedral (see Dom Quartier Tour) especially during the run of the famous Salzburg Festival when dignitaries and visitors alike enjoy the old-world charm of this coffeehouse. In the warmer months try and score a coveted seat on the terrace, one of the most sought-after relaxation spots in the Baroque city of Salzburg. Relax and enjoy one of the great variety of different kinds of coffee, and make sure to try the homemade cakes and strudels, which are offered by the “cake-maid” a job title unique to this Salzburg café tradition. © Bargain Travel Europe

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Cafe Tomaselli


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SEE ALSO:

HELLBRUNN PALACE TRICK FOUNTAINS

SALZBURG MARIONETTES THEATER

HOTEL STEIN TERRACE BAR

SACHER TORTE AND THE CAFÉ LIFE

ZUM SCHWARZEN KAMEEL

HOHENSALZBURG FORTRESS