About Hamburger Goldmandeln

Anna Wilhelmine, “Mother Veldkamp,” as it is written on her tombstone, owned the Cathedral Café Veldkamp on Hamburg's Winterdom, known across Hamburg's borders. Her grandmother, Grandma Jantje, already came from this industry. She founded a candy store in Groningen in 1821 and ran a café on the cathedral (Freimarkt, fair) on Hamburg's Goose Market in the early 19th century. She bequeathed this to her daughter, who later built a cathedral café on the “Heiligen Geistfeld”, which she in turn passed on to her daughter, Anna Wilhelmine. Under the successful management of Anna Wilhelmine, the small cathedral café was expanded into a coffee house with over 1200 seats. While a band played and 42 waitresses satisfied the guests' cake and coffee requests, Mother Veldkamp sat behind the cash register like a matron and controlled the smooth running of the service. On her head, she wore a gold-encrusted Dutch bonnet inherited from her grandmother, which included a Brussels lace scarf, the edges of which were adorned with diamonds. In this setting, Mother Veldkamp immediately caught the eye of all guests. The hood became Mother Veldkamp's trademark. Her portrait with hood was emblazoned as a glowing advertisement for her café at lofty heights on a tower that had been built on the outside wall of the café. During the Winter Cathedral, the café was owned by Hamburg's orphans for a day. Then the café was for the ÜbriRead their story