Frankfurt, July 14, 2014
"He would be sitting in the Sacher at ten in the
morning in a white suit, in the Bräunerhof at half-past eleven in a gray
stripped suit, in the Ambassador at half-past one in a black suit, and at
half-past three in the afternoon he would be back at the Sacher, wearing a fawn
suit."
Thomas Bernhard, "Wittgenstein's Nephew" (1982)
It seems hardly possible that anybody could follow the daily
routine that Bernhard describes in such an exquisitely compact sentence. His eccentric
character not only has to complete an elaborate cafe circuit in about six hours, but
also go back home after each stop and change clothes. And all of it with the parsimony of Viennese tradition. But Vienna is perhaps the only city
in world with that kind of dense urbanity. Particularly in the old center, its
"Innere Stadt".
A few pages earlier in the novel, we learn that Paul
Wittgenstein's apartment is "... in the Stallburggasse, diagonally opposite
the Spanish Riding School" (Stallburg means "the stable of
the palace".) From there it's only a few blocks to the Sacher hotel, most
likely walking to the Neue Markt--the open space where Vienna's grain and flour market stood since the middle ages--and then either turn right immediately, or walk an extra
short block to approach the Sacher from the main Kärtner Strasse. In either case, less than a
ten-minute stroll.
Next is the Bräunerhof, right there on Stallburgasse.
It is a wonderful place, but less formal than most Viennese traditional cafes--actually, Thomas Bernhard's favorite--and the change of attire registers this
difference in character. Given the time, Paul may have stayed at the Bräunerhof for its
delicious appfelstruddel, coming out of the oven around noon. Back to the
apartment for another suit and a short walk to the Ambassador at the Neue Markt.
(Photo credit: Thomas Bernhard at the Cafe Bräunerhof, 1988, by Sepp Dreissinger.)
