Café Sperl

Prior to World War I, the primary clientele was an interesting mix of individuals drawn from Vienna's cultural and military circles.

This infamous kaffeehauser is near the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts (Akademia der bildenden Künste) where Adolf Hitler of Café Sperl’s regulars applied to be a student, twice, and was rejected, twice.

The failed artist was known to loudly subject patrons to his political opinions and eventually left his native Austria as a nobody and returned to Vienna in 1938 as head of the Nazi Party.

Contemporary cafe regulars have included authors Jörg Mauthe, Robert Menasse, Ana Tajder, and Michael Köhlmeier.

Café Sperl was featured in the 1995 movie Before Sunrise, starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, and in a 2011 DVD of the Vienna Philharmonic playing the music of Johann Strauss, Fritz Kreisler and others.