A small café within the iconic building that bears Hundertwasser’s name pays due honour to the spirit of the artist.
- Creative menu and cosy insides
- A small location that oozes creativity
- Art & design to buy, too
- Book a concert experience* for your Vienna trip
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A touch of the different
(Not your everyday café interior. Photo taken and used with kind permission of the café)
One of Vienna’s tourist attractions is the Hundertwasserhaus: a building designed by Friedenreich Hundertwasser and Joseph Krawina. The apartment block features the former’s trademark colours, curves, and mosaics.
Consider the location a thumb of the nose to the rigorous straight lines, uniformity, and conformity of many modern constructions.
The building springs many pleasant surprises, such as trees growing out of the façade. Another one is the small Kunst-Café im Hundertwasserhaus tucked tightly within the side facing Löwelgasse, away from the small square where people congregate for photos and more conventional fare.
This small café feels like the gastronomic incarnation of the Hundertwasser spirit. A place of creativity with just a few tables, a decided cosiness, and a touch of iconoclastic unconventionality.
(A house of hidden delights)
The insides certainly honour the surrounds: a slightly uneven tiled floor, for example, or one corner a rage of colours and contours. Chairs feature embroidered and patterned seat covers, while contemporary art and design (much of which you can buy) covers windowsills, shelves, and walls.
Even the crockery eschews conventionality with its patterned cups and golden spoons.
The small menu adds innovative delights and beverages to the usual fare.
On my visit, for example, you could enjoy a simple latte but also a Biedermeier Light (which included apricot ice cream). A waffle but also an Imperial Red Walnut Kiss.
(Not your everyday crockery. Photo taken and used with kind permission of the café)
As such, the café feels like an extension of the Hundertwasser experience…something a little out of the ordinary, a little different.
A place, then, you might meet to chat about the latest exhibition at the Kunsthalle or the nearby Kunst Haus Wien (another Hundertwasser design). Or attend an event: the location hosts storytelling brunches, workshops, talks, and more.
Certainly a place to escape any tendrils of over-commercialisation, take a deep breath, and think fondly of the man who once noted that the straight line is a true tool of the devil.
How to get there
The café is best reached by tram. Take line 1 to the Hetzgasse stop and then carry on down Löwengasse. Tram 1 uses several very central stops, such as Oper/Karlsplatz, Schwedenplatz, Schottenring, Schottentor, Rathausplatz, and Ring/Volkstheater.
If taking the subway, the nearest stations are Rochusgasse and Landstraße on the U3 line (which passes through the very centre of town so you can jump on board at, for example, Stephansplatz).
Address: Löwengasse 41-43 | Website