A war hero and a coffee pioneer

     In Vienna there is Kulczycki–Gasse street, named after our famous countryman, and a monument, built in his honour. Why is this man who was born in a village of Kulchytsi nearby Boikivshchyna region is so respectable and honoured in Vienna?
     Yuriy Frants Kulczycki, was born in 1640 into an old Ukrainian noble family, was a merchant and began his career as a translator. He was fluent in Turkish, Serbian, Hungarian, Romanian and German. Very soon Kulchytskyi begins to sell carpets, silk, gold and silver, while remaining Turkish translator at the court of Austrian Emperor.
     During the Turkish Siege of Vienna (1683), he expressed a great wit and courage to fight the enemy and volunteered to leave the besieged and starving city to free it. He left the city in Turkish attire and crossed enemy lines. Knowing perfectly not only Turkish, but Turkish customs, he didn’t caused any suspicion and brilliantly fulfilled his mission.  The Muslim expansion was broken.
     Grateful townspeople of Vienna did not forget his savior and were very surprised when Kulczycki  asked instead of gold to give him trophy bags of coffee that no one wanted to take. At that time everyone  in Austria believed that blue-green grains were just simply food for camels. Kulczycki explained that these grains are used for preparing a favorite Turkish drink. In addition to three hundred bags of coffee, our hero received as a gift from the Emperor commemorative silver medal, Viennese citizenship,  a house in the Austrian capital and the right to open the first coffee house in Vienna.
     Ukrainian man seriously decided to start coffee business in Europe. At the beginning, wearing a Turkish attire he distributed coffee on Vienna’s streets. But very less people in Europe know about coffee and its price was very high. Suddenly new Kulczycki’s innovations to serve coffee with milk and sugar attracted more and more people. His abilities helped popularize coffee in Austria and with time his café became one of the most popular places in the town. Each cafe’s visitor was greeted with affectionate words "bratchyku-serdenko" ("brother-Darling"). This Ukrainian expression for a long time could be heard in the Viennese dialect.
     In a large room of a new built Kulczycki’s coffee-house there were wooden tables and benches that reminded Ukrainian house interior. The host served the guests with his beautiful wife. They both wore magnificent Ukrainian national dress, that attracted more attention of visitors.
     In late 17th - early 18th centuries not only in Vienna but throughout Europe people began to open coffee houses, which turned to be a sort of clubs, reading rooms, filled by newspapers and magazines, places of the exchange of ideas and inspiration for creative bohemians. On February 19th, 1692, Yuri Kulczycki died of tuberculosis . The news about his death spread around the capital. Vienna mourned the death of his savior. Funeral ceremony was impressive. The coffin was buried at St. Stephen's Cathedral, the most important church  in Vienna, from the bell tower of which at dawn by September 12, 1683 he gave light signals about the start of the enemy fortifications attack. Viennese still remember this communication system, as the first coffee brought to Vienna from the Ukrainian Lviv city by Yuri Kulczycki.
     In the days when Kulczycki opened the first coffee house in Vienna, Lviv was far from coffee. However, after making Viennese people coffee lovers, he contributed to Coffeemania in Lviv. Until recently it was thought that the first coffee house in Lviv that is called "Vienna" was opened in 1829 in modern Svobody Ave. From 30s (19th century) was opened another “Teatralna” coffee house owned by count Skarbek. He was that man who built one of the biggest theatre in Europe of that time (modern Marii Zankovetskoi theatre).   
     From the 40s of the last century one more  coffee-house "Pekelko" of Yan Dobrovolskyi could be seen in Lviv on Krakivska St. According to recent studies, the very first coffee shop in Lviv was a coffe-house of Lviv’s confectioner Yan Levakivskyi, referred to 1802. It was located  in the pit of famous Sholts-Volfovychiv stone building on 23 Rynok Sq. Famous sweets of Levakovskyi were best savored with coffee.