Café Hoppe is one of the oldest cafes of Amsterdam (founded in 1670) and the living proof that there are many changes except drinking beer, gins and other nattigheden. Since 2006 habitue Van der Linden co-owner. “This over three hundred years old café must still exist at least the same number of years.” 

Home-made

In first it was a distillery with a tasting room. The café was originally only from the part on Spui 18, where all drink himself home-made. The interior of No. 18 is still largely intact and is a listed building in Amsterdam. The old barrels wherefrom the different gins and liqueurs were served out, can be seen behind the bar. 

Standing versus sitting

Early 1900 there was a hotel located in the building next Hoppe, which also contained a café-restaurant. With the guidance of then-owner Harry Mustert the hotel was in the thirties attached to Café Hoppe with a passageway between the two buildings. He also builded a conservatory. However, the hotel disappeared and only the cafe remained, consisting of a ’standing’ part at number 18 and a ’sitting’ area on 20.

Ownership

The American magazine ‘Newsweek’ called this pub once one of the ten best bars in the world. The great secret of Café Hoppe is that nothing ever changes. There is still sand on the floor, there is still no music and the beer comes from a tap in the wall. Only the ownership of this enterprise has changed over the years.