Two traditional Munich restaurants are on the verge of extinction: For a few days now, notices have been hanging on the entrance doors of Atzinger and Alten Simpls stating that they are “temporarily closed”. The operator of the two restaurants, Wassili Galanopoulos, confirmed to the SZ on the phone that his Philon Restaurant GmbH had filed an application to initiate insolvency proceedings.
He will only be able to comment on the exact reasons and what will happen next in January. The two Löwenbräu taverns will remain closed until then. These are two of the most traditional Bavarian restaurants in Maxvorstadt near the university with a very long and sometimes colorful history.
The Alte Simpl at Türkenstrasse 57, opened a good 120 years ago by the legendary landlady Kathi Kobus, was for a long time a bar for artists and, above all, poets. Frank Wedekind, Ludwig Thoma, Thomas Theodor Heine and Georg Heym frequented here, as did Joachim Ringelnatz and the sculptor and caricaturist Olaf Gulbransson. After the Second World War, Toni Netzle was the new landlady celebrity at the Altes Simpl; Bernd Eichinger, Franz Josef Strauß and Peter Gauweiler stopped by, but Duke Ellington was also there and other international music stars. Plus actors like Robert De Niro, Gina Lollobrigida and Brigitte Bardot. Back then, the Alte Simpl was a real celebrity bar.
That’s long gone, time has passed on these types of restaurants. In the university area today, there is more demand for places that either offer large schnitzels for little money, or also hip trendy shops with vegan food or cafés with around 100 different types of coffee and tea.
It is also still unclear what will happen to Atzinger in Maxvorstadt.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
The Atzinger, on the other hand, located on the corner of Amalienstrasse and Schellingstrasse, is a typical student bar and could actually celebrate its 100th year in a good year. In 1925, the former tax office canteen became a tavern, and later it was primarily students who came here. Gerhard Polt and Hans-Christian Müller, both of whom grew up not far away, were among the less well-known guests at the time. In 2008 the restaurant was extensively renovated and largely restored to its historical condition. Wassili Galanopoulos has been running the business there ever since.
Both the Alte Simpl and the Atzinger are leased to the Spaten-Löwenbräu Group, which – in terms of sales – belongs to the world’s largest international brewing group AB-Inbev. It was not possible to find out on Friday what would happen next. However, it can be assumed that Löwenbräu will not give up the two traditional restaurants.