(Vienna) Like cafés, balls or the Opera, they symbolize the Viennese way of life, but are threatened with disappearance: the Austrian capital wants to protect its famous sausage stands by having them classified by UNESCO.
“We are keeping our fingers crossed for satisfaction,” explains Patrick Tondl, one of the founders of the association which submitted the application for intangible cultural heritage, with the support of Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig, to AFP.
Owner of the city’s oldest “Würstelstand”, opened in 1928, he offers day and night, like some 180 other kiosks, sausages to the 2 million inhabitants in a cardboard tray, with a slice of bread, mustard and horseradish.
If customers are there, the number of stalls has declined over the last ten years, more than a hundred having been converted to now offer pizzas, kebabs, hamburgers or Asian dishes, according to the Chamber of Commerce.
Proud to be in the fourth generation, Mr. Tondl, 36, sees above all in these stands, pure products of Germanic gastronomy, places for “meetings” and “exchanges”.
“Everyone is on equal footing. A wealthy banker can come and chat with someone who scrapes the bottom line,” he says of an increasingly rare mix.
Because “here, you can still drink and eat for less than 10 euros ($14.60). Not negligible when we have less money than before to feed ourselves, in a context of high inflation.
Fixed locations have only been permitted by the city of Vienna since 1969, but the tradition of mobile stalls dates back to imperial times.
At the time, they moved according to demand, settling for example outside factories or schools.
Since then, many of them have been able to evolve and adapt to their customers. “When my grandfather started, he only offered sausage sold by the meter,” says Vera Tondl, 67, Patrick’s mother.
The traditional “Bratwurst” or “Käsekrainer” (cheese sausages) then appeared on the menu, which now also includes a vegetarian version.
A menu revised to suit the times, and sometimes a more modern design, have given, according to Patrick Tondl, “new impetus” to this tradition which has also won over tourists.
“This is what you want to eat when you come to Austria,” says Sam Bowden, a 28-year-old Australian who enjoys, on a high table, what he considers to be “probably one of the best sausages” in Austria. his life.
A “typical” image that the UNESCO application intends to reinforce, notes Sebastian Hackenschmidt, author of a photo book on the subject.
Echoing the owners of sausage kiosks, he highlights the “social function” of these places with “regular customers”, which are not just “takeaway sales”.
But their “inclusive” aspect is “a bit of a myth” in a capital where 40% of the population was born abroad, he adds.
Faced with “changing habits”, the battle is also cultural, with the far right stronger than ever: having won the legislative elections in the fall, the FPÖ party never misses the opportunity to denounce standardization under the effects of globalization.