Hanging out at the Kaffeehaus Goldene Waage in Frankfurt

One of the fun aspects of visiting new destinations (or, in this case, revisiting destinations you haven’t returned to in years) is picking out what would be my favorite café were I to live there.

Were I to live in Frankfurt, Germany, that would definitely be the Kaffeehaus Goldene Waage.

After my son as I climbed all those steps of the Domturm, we joked with the tower employee that we definitey deserved cake and coffee after that, and he backed us up. : )

So we strolled across the square to the lovely Kaffeehaus Goldene Waage.

This building was constructed as a half-timbered building in the medieval era. First mentions of it show up in 1323. The Renaissance facade was elaborated in the 1619, but it was destroyed in WWII bombing in 1944.

I hadn’t been to Frankfurt in years, so I missed the major reconstruction efforts, known as the  Dom-Römer Project, of its medieval center that began in 2007. Goldenen Waage reconstruction efforts began in 2014 and were completed in 2017, to resemble old photos that documented the building.

For the reconstruction of the half-timbered facade, about 100 cubic meters of old oak recuperated from historic buildings was reused.

Part of the building is a musem, but the ground floors are dedicated to a luxurious café and my son and I enjoyed coming here for coffe with plenty of Schlagobers and decadent cakes.

If I lived in Frankfurt, I’d be packing up my laptop to come here regularly for writing time and coffee.

Sitting in this atmosphere is wonderfully inspiring for a historical fiction novelist. After all, like the specialized architects who reconstructed the lost splendor of this medieval masterpiece, we novelists also work to piece together the glory of past and to keep it relevant and exciting for modern readers.

Don’t miss out on coffee and cake at the Kaffeehaus Goldene Waage when you’re next in Frankfurt!