Café Museum

“The starting point for all modern interior design,” Cafe Museum was later declared, but when it first opened in 1899, it quickly earned itself the reputation of being a “nihilist” café. Designed by the pioneering architect Adolf Loos, its pared-down aesthetic was the very antithesis of the organic, ornamental style touted by the Vienna Secession. Its uncompromisingly stark interior, with light fixtures made of bare bulbs suspended on electric cables, was considered revolutionary.

Loos’ purist design didn’t last for long. In the 1930s, the café was remodeled and its original fittings, including its signature bentwood furniture and lighting, were replaced. It remained a hugely popular among Vienna’s intellectuals and artists nonetheless, aging gracefully over time.

In 2003, the café was gutted and completely refurbished, much to the chagrin of the regulars and old-timers. Once the café had been restored to the original turn-of-the-century design, these once die-hard patrons put their foot down and found different haunts and stomping grounds to call their own. While today’s interior may be a perfect and pristine replica of yesteryear, it hardly recaptures Loos’ singular magic.