1936 On the Continent

in the Fleischmarkt, which is celebrated for its good cheap food and its excellent beer; the Gösserkeller in the Steindlgasse, where you are treated to specialities of every kind according to the season; the Braunen Hirschen by the Karlskirche; and, finally, the Hartmann on the Kärntnerring, amongst many others.
    If you wish to eat in the open air, then drive either to Kahlenberg by the new Höhenstrasse, one of the most beautiful streets in Europe, and dine there looking over the glittering city, or to Cobenzl where you can dance on the covered terraces. But dancing is reserved for another chapter.
Entertainments
    You have now eaten and I take it that to-night you do not feel like going to the theatre or the opera. But don’t forget that in Vienna there are a great number of theatres besides the State Opera and the Burgtheater: the Volkstheater, which is only called so and does not in fact cater for the people but for the so-called “better” classes; the literary theatre in the Josefstadt, interesting on account of its players, and then the various comedy theatres which are sometimes open and sometimes closed and stagger from one smash-up to another. It is, in any case, too late for a theatre, as the performances all begin at 8 o’clock. However, I can introduce you to a very beautiful Viennesespeciality: the Viennese Kleinkunstbühne. Whatever you do you must not miss out a visit to these really humorous entertainments, full of the bewitching freshness and grace of youth. It is not easy to say where the charm of this Kleinkunstbühne really lies, only go and see it—the programme is harmless and you may safely take your wife. It is very cheap and very informal. You see a little dancing, a little acting, a little cabaret and a great deal of “esprit”; and generally hear some very temperamental and melodious music, indeed all that is offered by the Kleinkunstbühnen of Vienna is rich in talent and temperament. The two best are the Literatur am Naschmarkt, which is housed in the cellar of the Kaffee Dobner in the Naschmarkt, and the Liebe Augustin, which is carried on in the cellar of the Kaffee Prückl in the Leugerplatz.
    After the Kleinkunstbühne there remains to you, if you are not tired, a visit to a night coffee-house (Kaffee Europe in the Stefansplatz) or to a bar. Perhaps you will give yourself the pleasure of hiring one of the few remaining “fiakers.” If you ask the man—he is an old roué—what night resort he recommends, he will say: “Sir, the places are all alike, only the price and effluvium are different.” In this he is not far wrong. The Steffl-Diele in Stefansplatz is much to be recommended, a small bar in excellent taste with low prices, few visitors and a very good pianist. A few minutes’ distance from this, in the Jasomirgottgasse is the Splendid, much more modern, more sophisticated, but dearer and with a large first-class jazz band. The Café de Paris, Johannesgasse 6, has a large dancing floor, and the Königin (Dorotheergasse) is quite the last word in Vienna’s entertainment business.
Night Clubs
    Perhaps you have now had enough for to-day? Madam looks somewhat tired, but you, sir, seem still to be ready for any amusement that the night-life of Vienna can provide! Let me show you briefly a few places of entertainment and send you home directly afterwards. First and foremost there is the Ha-de-Le, in the Stadttheater building (Skodagasse), where one can get harmless and sophisticated excitement. There you lie in hammocks and are served with good wine and food by lightly clad ladies.There are, of course, music and dancing and “chambres separées.” The Vau-N (Vogelnester) is carried on in the same house on the same lines. Performances of all kinds alternate with general dancing. In the Opiumhöhle, however, you see mainly exotic night-life which may equally arouse either your pleasure or your displeasure. I can only suggest you see it, if you wish, for yourself and form your own opinion about it.
    Should you be interested in the life of the suburbs, I advise you to visit the Kaffee Hollywood in the Alserstrasse. This is a place of entertainment on American lines, comprising many varieties of entertainment and extending over several floors. It is the resort of mainly unassuming people, never of undesirables.
Social Life
    In Vienna there is no “good society.” There are to a certain extent different stratas of society, the members of which more or less hang together,