Our history

2012: A dust-dry cake, and joking with the grannies but it was not funny at all

Once upon a very long time ago, in 2012, while eating a dust-dry piece of cake in a Viennese café…

Mike Lanner and Moriz Piffl, at that time known as social entrepreneurs behind the eco-fair custom jeans label Gebrüder Stitch, found themselves longing for the moist cakes their grandmothers used to bake when they were kids growing up in the countryside. And so, the idea of a coffeehouse was born—one that would bring back the nostalgic flavors of grandma’s baking, right in the heart of Vienna. During the night – and, rumor has it, after a beer or two – they came up with the name Vollpension (German for “full pension,” referring both to retirement benefits and the kind of hotel stay that includes all meals).

Things really took off when Mike successfully submitted their idea to the Social Design-Call at Vienna Design Week. But turning a vision into reality is no easy feat. While searching for a meeting space for their project, Moriz and Mike stumbled upon Impact Hub Vienna, a place that introduced them to a community of inspiring changemakers. It was here that they first came across the concept of “Social Business”—a model that would later become fundamental to Vollpension’s development. In the Impact Hub kitchen, they met Julia Krenmayr, who was quickly brought on board. Soon after, David Haller joined the team as well. Their first kick-off workshop marked the real beginning of Vollpension’s journey.

By September 2012, the first pop-up Vollpension opened its doors for one week inside the “Hosenlabor”, a tailor shop in Vienna’s 6th district. No permits, no grand plan—just a whole lot of heart. The premiere exceeded all expectations, with people lining up to get a slice of Ms. Charlotte’s eggnog cake.

The huge demand led to another Vollpension pop-up during the Christmas season of 2012. To establish a legal foundation for the project, they formed an association. It soon became clear that Vollpension was more than just a cozy space for eating, laughing, and spending time together—it also carried a strong social and political impact. A job advertisement in a major Austrian newspaper led to an increasing number of seniors applying. They all had one thing in common: a passion for baking. But beyond that, many were also seeking a way to earn extra income, as their small pensions were often not enough to live on—a harsh reality that the team came to understand through many personal conversations.

2013: “Clash of Civilizations” at the European Alpbach Forum

We were so excited when the European Alpbach Forum invited us to cater the attendees of the conference with coffee and cake for two weeks in a closed-down indoor swimming pool.

The newspaper called our pop-up project “Clash of Civilizations” (Die Presse, 30 August 2013), and “The Alpbach Saga” (Wiener Zeitung, 30 August 2013). Our Vollpension was welcomed in particular by the young attendees of the forum, however, it was not met with total enthusiasm. We were even confronted with a legal claim on illegally serving food and drinks as a pseudo-organisation (so now you know how you’re treated as young and socially active entrepreneurs….). In the end, we all sat together at one table, and had a public mediation right in the middle of the pool, and talked it out. Finally, we managed to iron out the differences – talking brings people together – not only in our Vollpension, but also in the swimming pool.

2014: Granny on Tour, the Impact Hub & the Founding of Vollpension

In 2014, Vollpension got on board an old Volkswagen bus with a trailer, which had been converted into a mobile coffeehouse, and toured across Austria together with the Vienna Tourist Board. This was a pivotal experience for everyone involved, as no matter where the rolling café stopped, cakes were literally snatched from the hands of our baking grannies the moment they left the oven. Whether it rained – and it certainly did more than once – or the sun was shining, the grannies and their cakes were a huge success everywhere. This overwhelming response was an encouraging and heartwarming experience for everyone.

The tour also brought younger team members on board. Mike and Moriz, who were already tied up with other projects, began looking for a partner to take the next step: transforming the pop-up project into a sustainable gastro-social business.

A decisive moment followed – once again – at the Impact Hub Vienna. It was there that they met Hannah Lux, who played a crucial role in transitioning Vollpension from a temporary pop-up project to a long-term social enterprise. The Impact Hub had already been an important place for the Vollpension founders, where they had gathered inspiration, developed ideas, and laid the groundwork for the future.

And so, Hannah joined the team as the new Vollpension captain, alongside Cornelia Kamleitner, Julia Krenmayr, and David Haller. Eventually, Hannah, Julia, Moriz, and Mike founded a GmbH (private limited company) – marking the official birth of Vollpension as we know it today. The search for a permanent home for Vollpension had begun.

2015: Vollpension forever: cakes, kitsch and granny happiness

Via social media we encouraged the entire Vollpension community to search for a permanent home, since all of us have the right to eat granny’s cakes. But guys, we have to tell you, such a coffeeshop doesn’t open by itself. It took a lot of work to open its doors. We wanted to show that our concept could compete with the longstanding coffeehouse culture in Vienna’s first district, and that gastronomy and economic efficiency with humanity and togetherness at the core can be successful. This is why it was so important to us to bring our social business right to the middle of the city.

After having seen about 50 potential locations, our naivety was becoming increasingly smaller: such a premise really costs a lot of money! We reached out to our entire network in order to collect enough money. Finally, the first courageous partners were found who believed in the Vollpension idea, our team and that the entire project could turn into a permanent, well-functioning organisation. Now is the time to say a huge thank-you to you, Sebastian Haselsteiner and Katharina Turnauer, here again on the internet, for becoming our first partners and making the first permanent Vollpension possible!

Finally, we found a place and signed the rental agreement for some run-down premises in the basement of an old house on the street Schleifmühlgasse. Half a year of blood, sweat, tears, and re-construction madness followed. Neighbours often came by and told us, amidst all that construction site chaos: “Wow, you have a lot of courage. No restaurant has made it for very long in here.” However, we were far from giving up! If it ever happened that one of us lost his or her nerve, the rest worked even harder, and that’s how we got past multiple nervous breakdowns until in June 2015, we finally were able to say: “Granny has a permanent home!” From the beginning, Vollpension was a success since we had gained a lot of experience in our mobile kitchens and pop-ups.

In the coming years, with all our love, brainpower and together with all kinds of people, partners and our team of young and old, we developed a well-functioning social business for our Generationencafé

2019: Opening up our first branch: Vollpension at MUK (Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna)

Good things take time. After years of falling down, getting up, trying again, getting on and over it, we felt ready to take the next growth step. But somehow opening up the second Generationencafé seemed to be so much harder than the first one in 2015, despite all the experience we’d gained. Naivety is tricky, it can be something out of which a lot of nonsense can develop, and at the same time it can be a driver for doing something without any fear. When you know which obstacles might be waiting for you on your way to your goal, things take much longer, and this is why we searched intensively for almost one year for a second location. The Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna came to us and asked if we would be interested in a cooperation, and after only a few talks with the rector’s office, we came to an agreement. Our Vollpension right there in the centre of the first district, with our cakes, grandmas and with a grand glass cake piano, and music as the main theme!

While searching for more baking grandmas and grandpas for our branch in the first district in summer 2019, we again became fully aware of the social aspect of our Vollpension when more than 350 seniors applied within a few days. In October 2019, we opened our second Vollpension at MUK, with a chock-full cake glass piano and a live concert.

2020: Vollpension has to close – corona pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic broke out in March 2020 and we had to close both locations for the time being. One big question remains for us: how can we secure the jobs of our 45 senior citizens?
As an initial emergency measure, we gather together entrepreneurial and creative friends and ask for advice. These meetings gave rise to the “Oma Innovation Labs”, where we put all our heads together to find a solution for Vollpension. After several rounds, 2 big ideas remain: crowdfunding and online baking courses. The spontaneous crowdfunding in April raises an incredible €140,000 from guests, friends and family. It is now known that there will be no support from the state for working pensioners. The crowdfunding will help us through the first few months of the pandemic.
After that, we will put all our energy into developing the online baking courses. In the search for a location, we come across the original pop-up location from 2012 – back to the roots! Without further ado, the studio is rented and a complete film studio for online baking courses is created. With great attention to detail, we produce three digital baking masterclass courses with more than 12 hours of high-quality video content and a streaming platform in just 6 months. On October 1, the Vollpension Bakademy goes online and with it grandma goes online. At the same time, our online live baking courses start in the studio and in the kitchens of our grandmas. During this time, we also start producing campaigns and content for Vollpension and for more than 20 baking brands. Our senior citizens become senior influencers.

2021: “Survival through innovation”

From the Buchtel-to-Go as an answer to Demel’s To-Go-Schmarrn to the completely new gastronomy business model, we are moving from lockdown to lockdown. The question remains the same: How can we secure the jobs of our 45 senior citizens?
After our senior citizens have already given online baking courses from their kitchens via Zoom, we are launching an international appeal for grannies all over the world. With our “Bake Against Poverty” campaign, we invited grandmas and grandpas worldwide to apply as online baking teachers. Baking courses from New Zealand or Germany then took place in the kitchens of our baking students.

2022: The innovation marathon continues

Due to the continued success of our first Buchtel To-Go kiosk, we are opening another one in January in a former ATM on Vienna’s Schwedenplatz. Buchteln and coffee-to-go will now be available in the city where the bills used to come out. Our corporate customers are also crazy about Buchtel. Our answer: the Buchtelmobil. From now on, Buchteln, including grandma in a flight case, will be delivered to events in Vienna and abroad.
The BakAdemy is providing even more baking action: in spring, we are bringing the previous online baking courses into the offline world and opening the world’s first grandma baking school. Since then, baking courses for the perfect Buchteln, Viennese apple strudel, Sachertorte and other pastry classics have been taking place in our baking studio on Mariahilferstraße.

2023: Even more innovation

In 2023, our Buchtelmobil not only traveled through Austria, but also made trips to Copenhagen, Barcelona and Munich. To bring even more Vollpension to our corporate customers, we are designing our Pop-Up Café. With this, we build a fully equipped Vollpension including grandma kitsch, cake and catering to the desired location.
Things are also happening in our generation cafés: Johannesgasse is getting its first outdoor area, which offers plenty of shade in summer. In the outdoor area at Schleifmühlgasse, we are ringing in the grandma aperitivo: With snacks and drinks like on an Italian vacation, a Prosecco bassena and a whole lot of vacation feeling.
AT Johannesgasse, which is finally open all week again, we are starting a Gifting Forward experiment for 10 weeks to bring a little more generosity into our lives.

2024: News partnerships & a new bakery

This year, we teamed up with SPAR Austria to create even more opportunities for connection between young and old. Together, we are bringing generations together through the joy of food – whether through our column in the SPAR Mahlzeit! magazine, exciting joint video formats, or many other initiatives. At the same time, SPAR, as Austria’s largest private employer, is making a strong statement by creating job opportunities for seniors, ensuring that experience and passion continue to be passed on. We’re beyond excited for everything that’s yet to come!

For those warm summer evenings, we’ve introduced a new evening menu at our Schleifmühlgasse location: 1-liter carafes filled with sparkling refreshment, paired with our delicious Pensen-Special salted breadsticks – perfect for a relaxed summer night.