Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Coffee house
(1,965 words)

1. Concept and origins

A coffee house is a public house in which coffee is served, along with other drinks like tea, chocolate (Cocoa), and spirits, as well as small food dishes. According to Jürgen Habermas, coffee houses and salons were a nucleus of “bourgeois public sphere” [3. 90–93].

The coffee house originated in the Ottoman Empire, where coffee became established in the 16th century as an everyday beverage, and was also consumed in public. The first coffee…

Cite this page
Rosenke, Stephan and Stahrenberg, Carolin, “Coffee house”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_021821>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20170206



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