Leopold Hawelka is an Austrian cafetier

Café

A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...

, founder of the Café Hawelka

Café Hawelka

Café Hawelka is a coffeehouse in the Innere Stadt district of Vienna located at Dorotheergasse 6.The Café Hawelka was opened by Leopold Hawelka in 1939. Hawelka had previously operated the Kaffee Alt Wien on Bäckerstraße since 1936 and together with his wife Josefine took over the Café Ludwig in...

 ("Künstlerkaffeehauses Hawelka"). He was born in Mistelbach

Mistelbach

For the town in Germany, see Mistelbach, Bavaria.Mistelbach an der Zaya is a town in the northeast of Austria in so called Lower Austria, one of Austria's nine Federal States. It is located roughly 40 km northeast of Austria's capital Vienna...

. His parents were of Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

n ancestry, and his father was a shoemaker.

At age 14, Hawelka's family settled 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...

, and he began to work in the Deierl restaurant, where he met Josefine Danzberger, who also worked in the restaurant business. They married in 1936 and opened their own café, Kaffee Alt Wien

Kaffee Alt Wien

Kaffee Alt Wien is a classic Viennese coffee house at Bäckerstraße 9 in the First District. It was established in 1936 by Leopold Hawelka and his wife Josefine on the day after their wedding...

, on the Bäckerstrasse. They later set up a new café, the Café Hawelka

Café Hawelka

Café Hawelka is a coffeehouse in the Innere Stadt district of Vienna located at Dorotheergasse 6.The Café Hawelka was opened by Leopold Hawelka in 1939. Hawelka had previously operated the Kaffee Alt Wien on Bäckerstraße since 1936 and together with his wife Josefine took over the Café Ludwig in...

, on Dorotheergasse. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the café was closed and the Hawelkas were not able to operate their business. After the end of the war, in September 1945, the Hawelkas were able to reopen their café, whose building had survived the war largely intact.

Josefine Hawelka died in March 2005. Their son, Günther Hawelka, continues to bake the café's speciality Buchteln

Buchteln

Buchteln are sweet dumplings made of yeast dough, filled with jam, poppy seed paste or curd and baked in a large pan so that they stick together. The traditional Buchtel is filled with plum powidl jam...

 pastries after his mother's recipe and to help run the café. Leopold turned 100

Centenarian

A centenarian is a person who is or lives beyond the age of 100 years. Because current average life expectancies across the world are less than 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. Much rarer, a supercentenarian is a person who has lived to the age of 110 or more, something only...

on April 11, 2011.