The wooden cabin of a lift from 1912 was stuck—chained between two floors, the result of a wartime bomb hit. This sight marked Christian Tauss’s first encounter with old elevators from houses of the inner district of Vienna, and the start of his love affair with classic lifts.
Another instance marked the occasion of his first ride in an elevator from 1906. Had a gentleman in a tailcoat and top hat gotten out, it wouldn’t have surprised him one whit.
Entering an ornately wrought portal, the homey smell of oiled wood hit his nose. Pressing a rustic-looking brass button, the lift suddenly moved, floating silently up as if by magic! The encircling stairwell, seen through glass, turned about him in a spiral.
There was something about those hundred-something-year-old lifts, Mr. Tauss noted, that made them places of meeting and social ambiance. Something about their smooth, relaxed Art Nouveau lines and purely decorative, “modern” paneling made him think: coffee.
The whole idea of establishing an elevator café first descended into his head in 2015. Mr. Tauss, a 37-year-old electrician, found a way to indulge his love for Wilhelmine-era architecture and historical lifts by offering free lift dismantling services. Elevator owners could call, and he would come to collect beaten-up old cabins, cables, and drive wheels—the works—and was well received in Vienna.
“This turned out to be the best way to get historical elevators,” Mr. Tauss told The Epoch Times. “At the beginning, the plan was to collect an Art Nouveau elevator with all the technical parts and install it in my future house.”
And although the idea of a dusty old elevator museum did dawn on him, that was summarily dismissed, for his conversations with lift owners had illuminated “more and more of the social component” they embodied.
“In keeping with their purpose, the elevators should once again become a social meeting place,” Mr. Tauss said.
“It wasn’t initially a priority to implement the coffee project in a short time, saving elevators took up all my time.”
Delaying the café also enabled him to attend carpentry and upholstery classes—that way he could not only refurbish elevators but also transform a restaurant in his own building into a café by himself, saving money.
“Most of the furnishings that make up the café, apart from the booths, were designed and built by myself, and that mostly with old parts of elevators,” he said.
And despite further delays with COVID in 2020, a combination of coffee, art, antique décor, and some 100-year-old elevators all came together in a tidy little nook along Wiedner Gürtel during summer in 2023. It was just a stone’s throw across Prinz Eugen Street from the 18th-century palace of Schloss Belvedere. Such proximity to the famous palace meant much foot traffic frequenting the spot.
Stepping off the street and into Aufzug Café, one is enticed to suspend disbelief and indulge in a bit of stage fantasy. It’s 1906. You need a lift to the fifth floor. Not to worry.
Right in front, first you’ll notice a trio of elevator cabins—fully authentic and restored to their former glory—and there’s someone dressed for the role of lift operator. The smiling, goateed man in a buttoned uniform is none other than Mr. Tauss. His job, though, isn’t to send you swiftly and safely up the lift, but to make you an espresso, café au lait, or other caffeinated refreshment.
Art Nouveau lamps line the walls textured like an old factory. Above the modern Italian espresso machine behind the bar, elevator drive wheels furnish the “engine room” where the coffee is served. All the wood paneling is Mr. Tauss’s handiwork.
The old lifts are displayed “as if they could actually move,” he said. Guide rails and ropes rising from the cabins toward the ceiling complete the mechanical illusion.
Finishing the tour of Aufzug Café with a gander at photos of the lifts’ original homes, the delightful scent of brewed coffee stirs a craving in any visitor.
“Quality comes first here,” Mr. Tauss said, speaking of his caffeinated fare. “The coffee beans come from a small roasting company that imports and supports the coffee farmers.”
He said, “When it comes to food, we’re all about sweets. There are freshly made tarts and cakes.” A bakery around the corner also supplies the café with the classic pastries Vienna is known for.
Besides its rich, historic lift décor and sumptuous refreshments, how is the atmosphere sitting down with friends for a coffee at Aufzug Café?
“The whole place was created by me,” Mr. Tauss said, adding that it’s “particularly important to me to create a very personal atmosphere.
“That is also what the people who are guests feel.”
