The Viennese Café and Fin-de-siècle Culture - Research Project

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, this multi-disciplinary project investigates the lasting significance of the Viennese café. The unique dynamism of Viennese culture at the beginning of the twentieth century was manifested by the innovations of its artists, writers, composers, designers, psychoanalysts and scientists. The city's famous cafés played a crucial part in this vibrant intellectual and artistic environment. Here pursuits of refreshment, communication, leisure, work, and intellectual exchange co-existed, challenging conventional boundaries between public and private life.

Research will focus on the historical, cultural and artistic complexity of the Viennese café as an urban space in order to better understand the culture of cafés, both past and present. Attention has long been focused on Paris as a cradle of modernity and artistic modernism. Through its focus on the Viennese café, this project aims to redefine our understanding not only of the arts in Vienna, but also of modernity and modern life more generally.

Project Team

 

Vienna: City of Dreams Study Day - Sunday 24th May 2009

Details of the 2008 Vienna Café 1900 Exhibition and Festival