“Kaffeesachsen” (Coffee Saxons in English) is a tongue-in-cheek expression that makes light of the Saxons’ love for coffee. Saxony, one of 16 Federal German states, is located in the eastern part of the country. In the early 1700s, coffee became the region’s most treasured drink. Supposedly, the Coffee Saxons still drink more coffee than the rest of the German people.
Coffee Saxons drink more coffee than the rest of the German people. www.walled-in-berlin.com
The Coffe Baum – Leipzig’s famous coffee house
The second oldest continuously operated coffee house in Europe is the Café “Zum Arabischen Coffe Baum” (To the Arab Coffee Tree), located in the Saxon city of Leipzig. In the early days, coffee houses were social hubs where thinkers and creators congregated. The Coffe Baum was once THE place where composers like Johann Sebastian Bach, Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelsohn-Bartholdy, Gustav Mahler and Richard Wagner talked about music and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/Goethe-writes-faust-a-closet-drama/ philosophized. Today, the Coffe Baum is mostly a tourist magnet.
Coffee house “Zum Arabischen Coffe Baum” in Leipzig, Germany. www.walled-in-berlin.com
No Bluemchenkaffee for Coffee Saxons
As early as 1697 the first German “coffeehouse order” was issued. It established the guidelines for the strength and composition of the coffee served. The then fashionable Meissen porcelain, invented in 1710, was typically adorned with floral designs. Soon, the Coffee Saxons referred to particularly weak coffee as “Bluemchenkaffee” (flower coffee) because you could see right through the brew to the floral design at the bottom of the cup.
What the Coffee Saxons call “Bluemchenkaffee” (flower coffee). It’s a tad exaggerated, but you get the idea. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2018. www.walled-in-berlin.com
Did the Coffee Saxons start the coffee habit?
Despite their love for the delightful brew, the Coffee Saxons did not invent coffee houses or the cup of steaming Java. Both originated in the 14th or 15th century in the Middle East, probably in Yemen or Turkey. There were coffee houses and an entire culture around coffee in much of the Eastern Mediterranean area at that time. It was not until the 18th century, around the time of the invention of Meissen porcelain, that coffee, along with tea and chocolate gained in popularity in Saxony.
Coffee Consumption around the World
Despite their coffee fondness, the Coffee Saxons are by no means the biggest consumers of the brew. Neither can the United States claim that distinction despite the fact that there is a Starbucks on almost every corner. Although statistics vary, it appears that Finland and the Netherlands are the two top coffee consuming countries. Germany ranks fifth or eighth (depending on whose figures you believe) in consumption. The United States falls somewhere between number 16 and number 25.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/maps-and-graphics/countries-that-drink-the-most-coffee/ and https://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-what-the-world-drinks
A survey indicates that almost 30% of Germans believe that a cup of coffee helps in deal-making. www.walled-in-berlin.com
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Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.
