What's next?

Cult nightclub “Vanilli” finally demolished

The former cult restaurant is currently being gutted.(Bild: Einöder Horst)

(Bild: Einöder Horst)

For decades, "Vanilli" was a meeting place for the rich and famous, with celebrities and "normalos" alike. But now it's all over. The former "in" place closed its doors over two years ago, but now, after 42 (!) years, the interior is also being gutted.

When the lights went out for the last time at Vanilli, the old town institution in Hofgasse, after a farewell party just over two years ago at the beginning of May, a piece of Linz's gastronomic history had also come to an end. A story that could fill countless volumes of books, if the walls of the cult restaurant could talk.

Stars and starlets
Looking back: Gastro legend Franz Wagner opened the historic nightclub in the old town in November 1982, having previously developed the Fly in Prambachkirchen into the hippest disco outside Vienna. Over the years, Vanilli has played host to countless stars - Falco, Herbert Grönemeyer and Hermann Maier, to name but a few. In its heyday, the restaurant was even open around the clock. This was made possible by a fire in the neighboring café. The pubs "merged" and the licenses were combined. If one restaurant had to close at 6 a.m., the other was allowed to open again.

The end as early as 2022
Wagner left in the mid-2000s and Vanilli experienced a renaissance with new owners, but this gradually crumbled after the renovation in 2015 before it closed in 2022. Over the past two years, there have been repeated rumors about what would happen to the club - now the most persistent one could come true. The Motel One hotel chain wants to expand its premises, which are currently being gutted. It has not yet been possible to find out what the plans are for this when asked by "Krone".

However, things could turn out quite differently. The building recently changed hands. In any case, the "Vanilli" will remain a talking point, even after its demise.