While for some the corona lockdowns are already a faded memory and masks are slowly disappearing from everyday life, many legal issues from this time are still occupying the courts. This is also the case in the legal dispute over the traditional Viennese café Landtmann. Specifically, the case is regarding rent payments not made during the pandemic. The process went into the next round yesterday, Friday – initially without a result.
At the beginning of the hearing, the judge once once more explored the willingness of the parties to reach a settlement. In the meantime, there are already several supreme court decisions on the subject and one can better estimate “where the journey is going,” the judge tried to make an out-of-court agreement palatable.
After the initial settlement talks were unsuccessful, the judge continued taking evidence by questioning coffee house owner Berndt Querfeld. The focus was on the question of how the official corona measures, from distance and 3G regulations to the obligation to register and reduced closing hours, have affected the café’s sales and customer numbers.
The coffee house owner noted that a significant drop in sales was recorded, which was caused by a “mixture of all measures”. At the time, even former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called for “preferring to call friends instead of going out for coffee” in order to minimize the risk of infection. That meant the “social lockdown” for Kaffeesieder, said Querfeld.
The plaintiff’s representatives see things differently. Among other things, they argue that the Café Landtmann was at least partially usable during the pandemic due to the temporary establishment of take-away and a delivery service. The café was also well attended during several local inspections between the lockdowns.
Querfeld already said in an earlier survey that he had not become a “takeaway emperor” during the Corona period because the coffee house experience does not work to take away. The delivery service was also uneconomical and was therefore discontinued following three months. Querfeld commented on the impression from the local inspection: “If I complain to my neighbor, then I won’t sit down at his garden party.”
A spokeswoman for the Wlaschek Foundation confirmed to the APA that the goal is still to reach an agreement with the Querfeld family. A new lease is not an issue for the landlady, although there are certainly interested parties. Café Landtmann should remain as it is. If no agreement is reached, the Supreme Court (OGH) will probably deal with the case and have its say. Both sides had already hinted at this in previous meetings. Until then, however, many pastries and melanges should still be served in the Landtmann.
More than two years ago, the landlords of the well-known inner-city coffee house went to court. The lessor is the Wlaschek Foundation of the late Billa founder Karl Wlaschek. The accusation: Querfeld arbitrarily suspended rent payments during the lockdown months and reduced them significantly in other months. Querfeld, in turn, sees himself right regarding the loss of business caused by the Corona measures. The value in dispute amounts to several hundred thousand euros.
If business premises had to remain closed due to the corona pandemic, the renting companies might reclaim at least part of their rent. The Supreme Court (OGH) made this clear in 2021. Because the pandemic is considered a “disease”. If it makes an existing property unusable, the tenant does not have to pay rent. However, it is still controversial how a partial usability of the business premises is to be taken into account in the calculations and how other official measures (e.g. compulsory masks, distance and 3G regulations) affect the rent claim.
