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Mr. Leopold Hawelka
Leopold Hawelka,
was born in Mistelbach in Lower Austria on April 11th 1911, the son of a cobbler whose father came from Bohemia. In 1925 he moved to Vienna to work as a waiter at the Deierl restaurant where he got to know his future wife Josefine. In 1936 they were married and leased the "Café Alt Wien". Three years later they opened together the " Café Hawelka " The coffeehouse was closed for the duration of the War; Herr Hawelka was called up and sent to Russia. "I was told I could open up again in five weeks, I came back in five years !". Despite heavy damage to the Inner City the coffeehouse was untouched and Leopold Hawelka was able to reopen in December 1945. The Café quickly became popular among writers and artists and Herr Hawelka, who is himself an enthusiastic painter, began his collection of paintings by his regular customers. The "poster wall" publicising exhibitions, that one now finds in most cafés, is an innovation of Herr Hawelkas. For over sixty years,every day, Herr Hawelka is in his coffeehouse in order to greet his guests personally. On his 80th birthday he was granted the title Kommerzialrat (Commercial Adviser).
Download: Leopold_eng
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