A CONSCIOUS TOMORROW: Facelift without sugar coating
Publication date: 09.04.2025
This is an article by Barbara Jahn, translated and slightly adapted by Jan Hoffman
Café Prückel serves ‘Apfelstrudel’ and the classic Viennese coffee speciality Melange, just as you would expect from a genuine Viennese coffee house. However, it also offers over 70 years of design history, which is now entering a new chapter.
Cosy niches, bright, high-ceilinged rooms and space for many guests: Café ‘Prückel’ looks as it did in its heyday.
One architect, two careers: together with his former partner Christian Knechtl, with whom Gregor Eichinger founded the Viennese ‘Architekturbüro’, he realised that architects should also be responsible for design. With this in mind, he has been responsible for countless Viennese gastronomy projects, among other things, and this is a passion he continued to pursue even after founding the Eichinger Offices. With cafes and bars such as Café Stein, Restaurant Wrenkh, Bar Ron con Soda or the café-restaurant ‘im Palmenhaus’, he and Knechtl shaped the Viennese bar scene. Stadtgasthaus Lugeck and Bar Ludwig followed later. With the restoration of the legendary Eden Bar in 2023, Eichinger opened a new chapter, which has recently been continued with an extremely remarkable ‘facelift’ of another Viennese original, Café Prückel.
Nowy blask. Wnętrze zaprojektowane przez Oswalda Haerdtla, włącznie z żyrandolem Lobmeyra, wygląda, jakby lata nie pozostawiły na nim śladu, a jednocześnie nie sprawia wrażenia przebywania w muzeum.
The café, which was opened in 1903 by former European cycling champion Maxime Lurion that initially wore his name, experienced a turbulent time with many changes of ownership. However, Wenzel Prückel took over the establishment on Vienna's Ringstrasse, which at the time was still called Café Miramonte, as early as 1906. In addition to the classic coffee house facilities, the Prückel has always had club rooms, a ballroom and a bowling alley. The theatre facilities for cabaret in the basement are there since 1931 already and are still present today. After many opulent interiors, Oswald Haerdtl was finally commissioned to redesign the café in 1955. He enlarged the window openings and had all the pillars removed. This listed appearance has now been restored to its former glory.
The large windows, through which daylight floods in, date back to Oswald Haerdtl's adaptation in the 1950s.
“It is the details that make the room shine.” © Gregor Eichinger
A place of bliss: Gregor Eichinger and his team managed to preserve the special flair of this legendary coffeehouse.
It was also perfectly clear to Gregor Eichinger and his team that the Prückel is untouchable as a relevant Viennese cultural asset. The unmistakable cosiness and modern charm, dating back to the 1950s, characterise this place too much. However, the aging premises urgently needed a makeover in the form of a gentle renewal, which was sought in the course of the recent change of ownership. Since the intention was to keep it as it is, only more beautiful, a great deal of tact was required. This was nothing new for Gregor Eichinger, who had already demonstrated this art in many projects, as he always approaches his work with a great deal of empathy for the atmosphere and a sure sense of timeless aesthetics, while always remaining true to himself.
The coffee house has remained true to itself: from the lamps to the coat rack, every detail is just right.
What is exciting is that even true connoisseurs of coffee houses do not really notice that something has changed. Perhaps they do at a second glance. That is a good thing, one could almost say it's a direct hit because the Viennese like to hold on to what they love and would prefer never to change. Eichinger Offices has mastered this balancing act. While meticulously observing the requirements of the preservation order and with the aim of ensuring that the interior would still be popular with the regular clientele after the restoration, the premises were made brighter, tidier and at the same time more lively. The windows were refurbished, the walls freshly painted and the furniture covered with new fabric that exactly matches the original from 1955. This fabric was custom-made and required the conversion of a machine.
The glass partition wall with mirroring in the upper part creates an elegant transition from the 1950s style to the annex with the original stucco ceiling.
The entrance area, the area for the newspapers, which is indispensable for every real coffee house, the time-honoured cake display case – and the restored symmetry of the room thanks to the glass partition –are all crucial elements that, carefully reworked and freshly renovated, help to ensure that the characteristic atmosphere is not lost. The real innovations, namely the conveniences of the 21st century, are either very subtle or even hidden, but they are there. Think about things such as the computer sockets at the seats, an improved room climate and clarity in the choice of accessories. With this project, Eichinger Offices has brilliantly bridged the gap between a piece of architectural history and the present day. Most remarkable is that in Café Prückel – even if everything is ‘new’ – no nostalgic sugar coating has been applied, but the inimitable, authentic charm of ‘being used’ has been retained.
From the entrance area to the newspaper rack: they all help to enhance the atmosphere of this place.