Demel

Demel(colloquiallyder Demel) is a famouspastry shopandchocolaterieestablished in 1786 inVienna,Austria. The company bears the title of aPurveyor to the Imperial and Royal Court(k.u.k. Hofzuckerbäcker) up to today.
The building is located in the centralInnere Stadtdistrict onKohlmarkt14 nearHofburg Palace. The interior was designed by Portois and Fix decorators in aNeo-baroquestyle. The white-aproned waitresses — theDemelinerinnen— usually address the customers in a traditionalhonorificthird personstyle, "Haben schon gewählt?" or "Wollen etwas zu sich nehmen, wenn belieben?".The cabaret artistHelmut Qualtingerextolled their timeless quality in his songDie Demelinerinnen.
Demel temporarily had one additional location in Salzburg, which was closed in March 2012. The company formerly had a small cafe atThe Plaza's Retail Collection inNew York City, but this location has since closed (as of March 2010). The corporate website indicates they are continuing to look for a new location to operate in New York.
Thek.k. Hofzuckerbäckereipastry shop was founded on Michaelerplatz by Ludwig Dehne, a confectioner fromWürttemberg. 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.
RenamedCh. Demel's Söhnein 1867, Christoph Demel's sons Joseph and Karl continued the business and were granted the title of a purveyor to theHabsburgcourt by EmperorFranz Joseph I of Austriain 1874. When in 1888 the oldBurgtheateron 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 heyday of theAustro-Hungarian monarchy, notable customers included EmpressElisabeth(Sisi), PrincessPauline von Metternich, and actressKatharina Schratt. During the AustrianAnschlusstoNazi Germany1938–45, the ViennaGauleiterBaldur von Schirachand his wifeHenriettewere regulars here.
The company was headed by Demel's heirs until 1972, when the entrepreneurUdo Prokschbought it and established theClub 45on the first floor, a popular venue of the Viennahigh society. After Proksch was arrested for his involvement in theLuconaaffair in 1989, theRaiffeisen Bankbecame the owner of the famous company. In 2002 theDo & Corestaurants and catering company took over Demel.
In the early decades of the twentieth century, a legal battle over the use of the label "The Original Sacher Torte" developed between theHotel Sacherand the Demel bakery.  Eduard Sacher, son ofFranz Sacher, the inventor of Sachertorte, had completed his own recipe of his father's cake during his time at Demel, which was the first establishment to offer the "Original" cake. Following the death of Eduard's widow Anna in 1930 and the bankruptcy of the Hotel Sacher in 1934, Eduard Sacher's son (also named Eduard Sacher) found employment at Demel and brought to the bakery the sole distribution right for anEduard-Sacher-Torte.
The first differences of opinion arose in 1938, when the new owners of the Hotel Sacher began to sell Sacher Tortes from vendor carts under the trademarked name "The Original Sacher Torte".  After interruptions brought about by the Second World War and the ensuing Allied occupation, the hotel owners sued Demel in 1954, with the hotel asserting its trademark rights and the bakery claiming it developed and bought the title "Original Sacher Torte".
Over the next seven years, both parties waged an intense legal war over several of the dessert's specific characteristics, including the change of the name, the second layer ofjamin the middle of the cake, and the substitution ofmargarineforbutterin the baking of the cake.  The authorFriedrich Torberg, who was a frequent guest at both establishments, served as a witness during this process and testified that, during the lifetime of Anna Sacher, the cake was never covered with marmalade or cut through the middle.  In 1963 both parties agreed on anout of court settlementthat gave the Hotel Sacher the rights to the phrase "The Original Sachertorte" and gave the Demel the rights to decorate its tortes with a triangular seal that readsEduard-Sacher-Torte.
The Vienna site features a museum with artifacts about the history of the Imperial chocolate-making bakery.
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