How do you condense such a rich history into a single image? In the end, it quite literally boiled down to the cup of steaming coffee, that has had people gathering in the iconic Kaffeehaus for the last 150 years.
The image is a digitally composed collage, painstakingly built and refined by hand. The coffee, the iconic Café Central marble coffee table, and the entrance come together as a small image carrying a very large history.
Café Central opened in the Palais Ferstel in 1876 and became an important meeting place for Vienna’s writers, artists and intellectuals. To have had the chance to translate some of that history into a stamp is a real honour.
Danke an das gesamte Philatelie-Team der Österreichischen Post für die schöne Zusammenarbeit.
Liz Wurzinger, October 2, 2026
150 Café Central – postage stamp
Concept / Digital Collage / Design: Liz Wurzinger
Client: Österreichische Post
Printer: Cartor Security Printers
Printing Method: Offsetdruck
Issue: October 1, 2026 · Edition: 150,000
Image credits & usage
Project images and photographs: Liz Wurzinger, unless otherwise stated.
Stamp: © Österreichische Post AG.
Photograph of stamp presentation: Jennifer Fetz / Österreichische Post AG.
A digital collage bringing together coffee, marble and the iconic entrance of Vienna’s Café Central. The architecture appears within the coffee’s crema — a small image attempting to hold a much larger history.