Griechenbeisl and dear Augustin

In front of you is the tavern that claims to be the oldest in Vienna. The building appears in the records in the 14th century, and the inn is documented from 1447. Its name comes from the Greek and Levantine merchants who settled in this quarter in the 17th century; the Orthodox church next door is their legacy.

1Dear Augustin

In 1679 the plague killed thousands of Viennese. From that year comes the legend of Marx Augustin, a bagpiper and street singer who used to play in this tavern. One night, drunk as usual, he fell asleep in the street. The gravediggers took him for one more corpse and threw him into a plague pit. Next morning he woke among the dead, started playing his pipes and was hauled out. He never caught the disease.

2What we know

Augustin was real: a death record of 1685 notes the death of a singer and bagpiper of about forty who plied that trade. The famous song "Oh du lieber Augustin", on the other hand, did not reach Vienna until around 1800, long after his death.

A piper who laughs at the plague: Vienna adopted him as the symbol of its way of facing misfortune.

Inside, the Mark Twain Room displays signatures on the walls that the house attributes to famous guests, from Twain himself to composers such as Beethoven and Schubert. In 1852 Pilsner Urquell beer was served in Vienna for the first time here.

3What to look for

• The ivy covering the façade and the eagle on the wrought-iron sign.
• The figure of Augustin with his pipes, above the entrance.
• The Greek church next door, with its red and gold façade.