Demel
Encyclopedia
Pastry
Pastry is the name given to various kinds of baked products made from ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder and/or eggs. Small cakes, tarts and other sweet baked products are called "pastries."...
and chocolatier
Chocolatier
A chocolatier is someone who makes confectionery from chocolate. Chocolatiers are distinct from chocolate makers, who create chocolate from cacao beans and other ingredients.Professional chocolatiers study topics including the following:...
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. It was founded in 1786 on the Michaelerplatz. In 1857, August Dehne (the son of the founder Ludwig Dehne) gave the company to Christof Demel, who moved the bakery to the Kohlmarkt, where the Demel is still located today in its original building. The company, once a purveyor to the Imperial and Royal court of Austria-Hungary, was headed by the Demels until 1972, when Udo Proksch
Udo Proksch
Udo Proksch 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 the company. In 1989, the year Proksch was arrested, the Raiffeisen Bank became the owner of the famous company. In 2002 Do&Co took over the Demel.
A curiosity is that the waitresses address their patrons in the 3rd person ("He/She wishes"), which is the historical polite form of address in German.
Location
The building is near the Hofburg Palace, and the interior was designed by Portois and Fix in a baroqueBaroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
style.
Demel has one additional location in Salzburg. Demel formerly had a small cafe at the Plaza Retail Collection in the Plaza Hotel
Plaza Hotel
The Plaza Hotel in New York City is a landmark 20-story luxury hotel with a height of and length of that occupies the west side of Grand Army Plaza, from which it derives its name, and extends along Central Park South in Manhattan. Fifth Avenue extends along the east side of Grand Army Plaza...
in New York, 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.