Hütteldorf Brewery, A. Brusatti 1912

Gustav Kalhammer created this print of the Hütteldorf Brewery in Vienna as an advertisement for A. Brusatti. Kalhammer, who died young, captures a sense of Viennese modernism in this piece. The café society of early 20th century Vienna was an important incubator for art and ideas. But this world was not without its contradictions. While coffee houses provided a space for intellectual exchange, access was often determined by one's social standing, gender, and even cultural background. Consider the ways in which gender and class shaped the experiences within these spaces. Who felt welcome? Whose voices were amplified? Whose were silenced? The brewery, with its echoes of art nouveau, speaks to both the splendor and the potential exclusions inherent within Vienna's vibrant cultural landscape. It invites us to reflect on who is present, who is absent, and how the politics of identity play out in spaces of leisure and conviviality.