Before the tables of Casa Capșa became the preferred stage for writers, journalists, and bohemians of the Capital, another venue dominated the cultural life of Bucharest. This was the famous café Kübler, the meeting place of literary figures, actors, journalists, and aristocrats of the time. In the 19th century, Kübler was not just a café but a true cultural institution, a space where ideas were born, literary magazines were planned, and debates ignited the entire Bucharest society.

The birth of a cultural epicenter

The café’s success was largely due to its owner, a German from Heidelberg, affectionately known by patrons as “Papa Kübler.” In his youth, he had been passionate about literature, which gave him a special sympathy for writers. Instead of focusing solely on profit, Kübler chose to gather around him a community of intellectuals, convinced that through them his café would gain fame and prestige.

Thus, the venue became a magnet for the cultural elite of the time. It was not necessarily a place of heavy consumption but rather a place where ideas were consumed. Ion Minulescu, with his characteristic irony, called the café’s regulars “coffee intellectuals.” Many of them sat for hours with a single cup on the table, but around that cup arose discussions that could last for days—often without practical results, yet with a profound influence on the cultural life of the city.

Writers and debates at Kübler’s tables

The café was renowned for its vibrant intellectual atmosphere. It brought together literary figures such as Mihai Eminescu, Ion Luca Caragiale, Alexandru Vlahuță, Ioan Slavici, Emil Gârleanu, and Șt. O. Iosif. It was also here that Alexandru Macedonski’s magazine Literatorul took shape, becoming the symbol of the modernist and symbolist group.

Kübler thus became the headquarters of the Symbolists, who opposed the traditionalist writers associated with the magazine Semănătorul. Though their literary visions differed completely, both groups shared the café space. They sat at separate tables but were united by the same smoky air and the strong aroma of coffee.

Ion Minulescu noted that, regardless of literary orientation, the writers of Kübler had two traits in common: fiery debates and modest bills. Many consumed on credit, something that did not bother “Papa Kübler,” who considered them “healing weeds,” indispensable to the café’s atmosphere.

A spectacle for Bucharest’s public

For ordinary Bucharesters, the attraction of the café was not just the coffee but the intellectual spectacle. People came to listen to the polemics and contradictions of the writers, who debated literary, social, or political themes with passion. To their contemporaries, these “coffee intellectuals” became almost a form of urban entertainment.

Ionel Teodoreanu captures this atmosphere in Corigent la limba română, describing how the debates began in the morning and stretched until late at night, moving from one table to another, without ever reaching a conclusion. They were often sterile discussions, but they had a unique charm and gave the impression of a supreme court passing judgment on all human activity.

The café’s location and the beginning of its decline

Café Kübler operated on the ground floor of the Hotel Imperial, built in 1880 by architect Anton Onderka, right next to the Royal Palace. The hotel, with its elegant façade and luxurious interiors, was a landmark of aristocratic Bucharest, and the café complemented this refined setting.

However, Kübler’s glory began to fade in 1935, when the Imperial Hotel was demolished to make way for the expansion of the Royal Palace. The café later moved to Academiei Street, but its charm was gone. By then, Bucharest’s intellectuals had discovered other gathering places, such as Capșa and Corso, which became the new centers of literary and bohemian life.

Lhe legacy of Café Kübler

Today, the name Kübler is rarely remembered, overshadowed by the fame of Casa Capșa. Yet for those who cherish the history of Bucharest, the café remains synonymous with the golden age of Romanian intellectual life. It was more than a venue—it was a laboratory of ideas, a place where Romanian literary history was written and rewritten.

At Kübler, friendships were forged and broken, magazines were founded, and polemics were born that influenced entire generations. It was a refuge and a platform, where culture was served alongside every cup of coffee.

Kübler was more than a café in Bucharest—it was an institution of free spirit. It brought together remarkable personalities, created bridges between different literary movements, and offered a rare space of intellectual effervescence. Though today it survives only as a memory, its cultural legacy endures in literature and in the memory of those who understand the importance of such meeting places for the growth of a national culture.

Before Capșa, there was Kübler. And without Kübler, the cultural life of 19th-century Bucharest would have been much poorer, deprived of that forum where coffee and ideas blended into a fascinating story.

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