In around 1995, alone while accompanying Henry on a business trip to Vienna,  I found the Café Central, a traditional Austrian café just opposite the Kunst Forum. Two images: the interior of the café and a Max Beckman exhibition of landscapes he painted while in America, are etched in my memory. In the Café Central, the large vaulted room with arches, columns and Belle Epoque chandeliers is still as I remembered it.  Built in the Schottenring and Alsergund district at Herrengasse 14,  the café occupies a prominent position in the Palais Ferstel, once the bank and stock market building, named after its architect, Heinrich von Ferstel.  The café was originally opened in 1860, and became the meeting place of the intellectual scene of Vienna. The regulars included: Alfred Adler, Peter Altenberg, Theodor Herzl, Anton Kuh, Adolf Loos, Leo Perutz, Alfred Polgar, and Leon Trotsky.  Leon Polgar once remarked that “this was ‘a place for people who have to kill time in order not to be killed by it”.  During the year 1913, the following patrons, some of them regulars, frequented the establishment: Josip Broz, Tito, Sigmund Freud, Adolph Hitler, Vladimir Lenin, and Leon Trotsky (both Lenin and Trotsky were the regulars).  Until 1938, the café was called Die Schachhochschule  or “Chess School” because of the presence of so many chess players. After World War II, the cafe was closed.  In 1975, Palais Ferstel was renovated and reopened with the café located in a different part of the building. In 1986, the fully renovated café was reopened in its original location.

PHOTOS: Left Column: 1. Sign for Café Central. 2. Kaiser Franz Joseph in the dress uniform of an Austrian Field Marshall. Oil painting by Franz Ruß c. 1863.  3 & 4: Typical Austrian pastries at Café Central. Center, Top: Interior view: Café Central. Center, Middle: Horse drawn carriage turns a corner at Cafe Central. Center, Bottom: Ceiling detail, Café Central Right Column: 1. Entrance to Café Central, the façade of Palais Ferstel. 2 Kaiserin Elizabeth. Oil painting by Franz Ruß c. 1863. 3 & 4: Seasonal pastries include Reindeer and Christmas Balls.