The historic restaurant “zum schwarzen Kamee”l (to the Black Camel) in Vienna
You’ll find these ornamental signs and figures all over Vienna, usually denoting a current or past place of business such as the image of the black camel, above. I heard that the original purpose of these signs date back to when the illiteracy rate was higher, so people could identify the specialty of a business—a sign in the shape of a glove outside of a glove shop, for example—or just to associate the name—Johan Baptist Cameel bought the above restaurant in 1618 and named it “zum schwarzen Kameel”. If you wanted to arrange a meeting in the place, then, you simply tell someone to go to the black camel on Bognergasse. That phrasing has a sort of intriguing aspect to it: conjuring up images of rendezvous with spies in darkened alleys or scenes out of the film, The Third Man. Although, “Meet me at the red man running with an umbrella” doesn’t quite slip off the toungue so easily, and starts sounding more like a meeting for a group of surrealists—or a good way to confuse someone if you didn’t tell them what street that was on.
The Kabarett Niedermair (on Lenaugasse)
Entrance to the Villon Wine Cellar, with an ornamental covered gondola resting above the sign.
There is even a little gondolier standing in the gondola
A more obvious one: a locksmith’s shop
The text reads “Old Smith” – a blacksmith, perhaps, showing off his metalworking skills.
The shop of a master violin maker on Lothinger St.
A decorative sign for Loden Handel, Vienna’s oldest specialty shop for traditional Austrian clothing.
An ornate combination with the leaping deer, metal grapevine, lantern and ironwork on the balcony. The restaurant below the leaping animal didn’t seem to be deer related, though, and I’m not sure why a deer would be leaping off a grapevine, anyway. It looks good, though!
A golden angel greets above a lighting sales and restoration shop
Down the street are some pretty flowers holding a sign for the Bodega Flores, next to the entrance for a building apparently called “to the old flowering plant”
The location of a (former) tobacco importer. That’s quite the pipe he’s smoking out of!
A pair of metal lederhosen oddly hangs in front of an art broker’s locale: Kunsthosen?
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