Cafe Demel in Salzburg to close

The famous Demel cafe in Salzburg is to be closed down.

The Hofzuckerbäckerei Demel, or simply Demel as it is usually known, is a famous pastry shop and chocolatier in Vienna, Austria.

It was founded in 1786 on the Michaelerplatz. In 1857, August Dehne (the son of the founder Ludwig Dehne) gave the company to Christof Demel, who moved the bakery to the Kohlmarkt, where the Demel is still located today in its original building.

At one stage it had a location in New York and its only other location outside the Austrian capital is in Salzburg. The New York location closed in 2010 and now with the closure of the Salzburg Cafe the company will have no representation outside the capital – although is reportedly looking for a new New York location.

The company, once a purveyor to the Imperial and Royal court of Austria-Hungary, was headed by the Demels until 1972, when Udo Proksch bought the company. In 1989, the year Proksch was arrested, the Raiffeisen Bank became the owner of the famous company. In 2002 Do&Co took over the Demel.

A curiosity is that the waitresses address their patrons in the 3rd person (“He/She wishes”), which is the historical polite form of address in German.

Located in the Salzburg Oldtown Do&Co Boss Attila Dogudan so the location was no longer economically viable because of the extremely high rents. In the future will be used to stage various events including weddings and company meetings. The company holds the rent until 2015 and said that they would also not expect to make large profits as an event location but as a cafe it was not viable.

The 19 staff at the cafe will be offered alternative jobs.