One week before the end, I went to Payerbach for a last look at Café Konditorei Alber. Five generations have run this place for more than 140 years. On 1 November it closes for good, because nobody is there to take it over. Walking through, I had that heavy feeling you only get when you know you are seeing a place for the last time.
A room that never got the memo
Inside, nothing looks like it is about to end. Little yellow cards mark the reserved tables, written by hand. A note on the windowsill asks guests to keep their dogs off the bench. Above the door to the toilets hangs a crucifix. The cups are stacked on the espresso machine, the lollipops sit in their glass for 20 cents. It feels like a room that will open again tomorrow morning, as it has for decades.
Zwieback, Brandteigkrapfen, ice cream to go
This is a Konditorei in the old sense: Reichenauer Zwieback, made by hand to their own patented recipe, Brandteigkrapfen and ice cream to go. Things that need time and hands, not a freezer. The Zwieback is not like the one you might know from the grocery store – it’s their own recipe, and I was lucky enough to get a big package of it.
What moves in next
The part that bothers me most is not the closing itself, it is the rumour about what follows. The word going around is that a large bakery chain might take over the space. That would mean frozen dough, bake-off croissants and the same display you find at every train station.
I would be glad to be proven wrong.
Rooms like this one, and the people and craft behind them, are what I photograph for businesses too. More on that under image and branding photography.
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