Sweet scents have been wafting for over 200 years from where Café Maiasmokk operates: since 1806, to be specific. It was then that the Swiss confectioner Lorenz Caviezel set up a bakery and shop here. Some time later, a newspaper reported that “all kinds of sweets and cakes are on sale there, as well as all sorts of soft drinks, spirits and wines, all of which can be enjoyed on the spot”.
The confectionery, which had changed owners for many years, was bought in 1864 by the Baltic-German Georg Johann Stude, the son of a Narva master baker. A few years later, he also acquired the building on the adjacent plot and had them rebuilt as a single Neo-Renaissance building, in the fashion of the time. This magnificent building still stands today.
Georg Ferdinand Stude, who had taken over the successful business from his father, commissioned city engineer Jacoby in 1913 to upgrade the façade of the building on the Pikk Street side: a respectable wide door and distinguished display windows were added. A luxurious showroom, the current café area has remained almost unchanged since then.
Georg Stude’s business sold handmade marzipan figurines and chocolate treats, as well as excellent cakes and tarts.
Original: The National Library of Estonia