If there is any place in the
world that knows how to create heavenly confections
it is Demel in Vienna. Stepping into to the pastry shop is an
experience in extravagance like no other, one I will remember all my life. However, the piece of
Demel I took home was the “Le
Langues De Chat” Cat Tongue. It is a
small piece of chocolate bliss with a history as grand as it’s maker.
Demel (colloquially der
Demel) is a famous pastry shop and chocolaterie
established in 1786 in Vienna, Austria. The company bears the title of a Purveyor to the Imperial and Royal Court (k.u.k. Hofzuckerbäcker) up to today.
The k.k. Hofzuckerbäckerei pastry shop was founded on Michaelerplatz by Ludwig Dehne, a confectioner from Württemberg. Upon his early death in 1799, the business was continued by his widow for their minor son August Dehne. In 1813 she purchased the house on Michaelerplatz 14. August Dehne inherited the company in 1832 and successfully managed the business, however, as his son pursued an academic career, he sold the company to his journeyman Christoph Demel in 1857.
Renamed Ch. Demel's Söhne in 1867, Christoph Demel's sons Joseph and Karl continued the business and were granted the title of a purveyor to the Habsburg court by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria in 1874. When in 1888 the old Burgtheater on Michaelerplatz was demolished combined with a general refurbishment of the whole square, they moved the confectionery around the corner to Kohlmarkt, where the company is still located today in its original building. In the heydays of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, notable customers included Empress Elisabeth (Sisi), Princess Pauline von Metternich, and actress Katharina Schratt. During the Austrian Anschluss to Nazi Germany 1938–45, the Vienna Gauleiter Baldur von Schirach and his wife Henriette were regulars here.
The company was headed by Demel's heirs until 1972, when the entrepreneur Udo Proksch bought it and established the Club 45 on the first floor, a popular venue of the Vienna high society. After Proksch was arrested for his involvement in the Lucona affair in 1989, the Raiffeisen Bank became the owner of the famous company. In 2002 the Do & Co restaurants and catering company took over Demel.
