Manner Schnitten – a sweet delicacy from Vienna

What are Manner wafers made of? When were they invented? Where can you buy them? What is Manner’s famous advertising slogan? Where is the traditional Viennese company based? Manner wafers are an ideal sweet souvenir from Vienna that you can take home with you. When the Viennese themselves travel, they also like to take Manner wafers with them as provisions. How did these delicious and crunchy wafers with the slogan

“Manner – you just like it”

Manner is the name of both the wafers and the company founder Josef Manner. It all began with a small store in the middle of the city on Stephansplatz. Josef Manner sold chocolates and fig coffee there. As he did not like the chocolate he was supplied with, he began to produce it himself. On March 1, 1890 , he founded the “Chocoladenfabrik Josef Manner” . From 1889 , St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna became the trademark, which you can still see on the pink packaging today. In return, Manner pays the wage costs for a stonemason at the St. Stephen’s Cathedral building site. That’s why this stonemason also wears a pretty pink Manner overalls. The company grew steadily and settled in Vienna-Hernals . By 1897 , it already had 100 employees. Today, “Josef Manner & Comp. AG” is the largest confectionery manufacturer in Austria. It is a public limited company listed on the stock exchange whose shares are owned by the family. The recipe for success could be that the majority owners always come from the family .

So what are the original Manner wafers made of?

The Original Manner Neopolitaner Schnitte No. 239 was first mentioned in a document in 1898 . The filling is made with hazelnuts, coconut oil, cocoa powder and sugar . Why is it called Neapolitaner Schnitte? Because the hazelnuts come from Naples . The size is precisely measured at 49x17x17 millimetres and it consists of four layers of spread between five layers of wafer. The weight is also standardized at 7.5 grams per slice. This basic recipe is still valid today, and in the beginning the slices were also sold loose so that people could enjoy them more often. Traditionally, there are two rows of five in the pink packaging and they are eaten up faster than you would like. The world’s largest wafer oven is located in Hernals and has the capacity to produce 49 tons of wafers and 450 slices a day.

Napoli (Drageekeksi), Casali (Rum-Kokos), Viktor Schmidt (Ildefonso, Austria-Mozartkugeln) and Heller (Schokobane, Wiener Zuckerl) are now part of the Manner Group. Since 2004 , Manner has operated a flagship store on Stephansplatz in the Archbishop’s Palace, close to the place where it all began. You will also find a Manner store at the airport, which is very practical for bringing something typical of the country to your loved ones at home on your flight home. Manner has also expanded to the east with subsidiaries in Germany, Slovenia and the Czech Republic. Salzburg has had its own Manner store on Residenzplatz since 2010.

The products are exported to 50 countries worldwide. Today, there are a wide variety of Manner products, including some for vegans. The Manner logo is often used as a design, e.g. for the Vienna streetcar and for KTM bicycles. Also as product placement, e.g. in the American series “Friends” Manner slices were placed in Central Park Café.

Time Travel tip: You can get the original Manner wafers everywhere in Vienna, whether in the souvenir store, of course in the original Manner store on Stephansplatz or, cheapest of all, in any supermarket.

Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manner_logo.svg