Hansen's restaurant, was the most famous of the nightlife venues in Buenos Aires from the last decade of the 19th century until 1903. It was a point of reference for the performance of a whole generation of musicians and the best tango dancers of the time arrived there. It was located in the heart of Parque Tres de Febrero, in the Palermo neighborhood, with an entrance on Sarmiento avenue between the railroad tracks and Vieytes avenue.
Those were public lands and there, in 1869, the Municipality of Buenos Aires had built a beautiful gazebo that housed a restaurant on land that had belonged to Juan Manuel de Rosas, with the idea of leasing it to individuals. It was called “Palermo Restaurant” and its design reproduced that of large open-air restaurants, which were fashionable in Europe at that time.
This restaurant was operated with greater and lesser success by different concessionaires, until, in 1875, a German born in Hamburg named Johan Hansen appeared on the scene, who, as a new consignee, gave the place a new imprint, so that from then no one spoke of the Palermo Restaurant anymore, but they referred to it as "The Hansen thing”
The truth is that "the Hansen thing”, it was not just a restaurant: Showing a luxury never seen before in a restaurant, it was a mixture of “sumptuary brothel and Tango mecca”, as well as a restaurant. A not very holy precedent of the "cabarets" that followed to illuminate the nights of Buenos Aires.
It was a meeting place for "bacanes" and "malandras", for patoteros and breakdown people. Of dancers and "cafishios", who mixed without shame, with representatives of the snob aristocracy, who was delirious to live those exciting nights that were offered to him in "Lo de Hansen". Because there they saw tango dance well, there they could listen to the best "typical" orchestras of the moment; enjoy the very pleasant company of beautiful "coperas" that made them feel that they were, what they could never be and forget, even for one night, a sad and boring life.
But the fundamental thing was that there was action there. Because fights with a bare fist or wielding a knife were a common and frequent thing. The challenges, the baleful glances, the "squeezing" of an absent-minded man who dared to invite the brown Bazán "mine" to dance, or the fight between women who wanted the same man, were the seasoning of those exciting nights, which attracted a heterogeneous audience that used to fill the venue's capacity, knowing that it was possible to stay away from that world and that while dancing some beautiful tangos, one could enjoy excellent drinks and first-class gastronomy service.
“Lo de Hansen” became fashionable and there were the most brilliant figures of the show, of the arts, of music and of politics. The most famous Tango orchestras that record the history of our popular music, the best singers and singers played there. There he danced "el Cachafaz" and even some Argentine President was encouraged to "cuts" on his dance floor. During those years, there was no illustrious visitor who was not tempted to discover what was talked about in a low voice in the most mundane halls of Europe. One night he was visited by the great Italian soprano Adelina Patti, who did not want to leave the country without spending a few hours in that authentic environment where one of the first milongas was born.
After Hansen's death in 1892, it had several owners, the first being Enrique Lamarque, until, at the end of 1903, the concession for the place was granted to another immigrant: this time it was Anselmo R. Tarana from Lombardy. From that act “Lo de Hansen” changed its name, it began to be called “Recreo Palermo Restaurant. Old Hansen” or also “El café Tarana”.
Tarana had five cars with which customers were taken and returned to their homes free of charge (if you drink, don't drive).
The issue of whether or not the tango was danced in “Lo de Hansen” is quite controversial.
Félix Lima, in an article in the magazine «Caras y Caretas,» writes: «Siphons, glasses, bottles, and chairs frequently flew. Sometimes gunshots and knife stabs. More than one ‘taita’ passed on to the other world from the Hansen stage on a direct trip, »senza tocare« the hospital.» ... ‘Dancing was forbidden, but behind Hansen's large house, in the arbor area, they danced nicely, sleepy tangos, contraband ones. ...’ ‘La Morocha,’ Saborido's tango, was played over and over; it was at the height of its popularity. The nighttime orchestra was top-notch. Bandoneón style. The bellows had not yet made a public appearance. The tangos by Bassi and Villoldo—El Incendio and El Choclo—were making their way. ‘Unión Cívica,’ the best tango by the composer Santa Cruz, was also in fashion... We are referring to the golden age of Hansen, from 1903 to 1908.
Alfredo Taullard in his book «Nuestro Antiguo Buenos Aires» (Peuser, 1927) describes it: «El Hansen looked like an Andalusian open-air tavern and a German beer hall. From several blocks away, at midnight, its location could be spotted by the lines of lights from the carriage lanterns and the colorful little lanterns that illuminated the gazebos. In those gazebos people dined, amidst laughter and revelry, and in the large courtyard the patrons drank beneath a leafy roof of wisteria and fragrant honeysuckle. The orchestra played milongas, polkas, and waltzes.».
Instead, the «dandy» Adolfo Bioy (father) in «Antes del 900 (Relatos)» expresses «... There the tango was danced, before this dance had managed to be in fashion in the city's salons, there we would go from time to time to exercise our qualities as roisterers, at the risk of incidents with the ruffians that swarmed in that den.».
Leonardo Benarós recounts that Roberto Firpo used to say: “I played at Hansen's in 1908. Some say that they danced. Is a lie. It was played so that it could be heard, although perhaps, one or the other, would take a few turns in a hidden roundabout”, but he also says that on December 16, 1961, he interviewed Felipe Amadeo Lastra, an old criollo horse breeder, already in his eighties, who insisted vehemently that “at Hansen's there was no dancing. Where was he going to dance? Among the trees?
Miguel Ángel Scenna recounts that Lastra used to say that “Hansen's, during the day and until eleven at night, was a peaceful restaurant, but that, starting at that hour, the night owls would begin to arrive. If it rained, there was no Hansen's. In that courtyard there were countless rectangular marble tables with iron bases, and therefore they were quite heavy and difficult to move. Surrounding it were gazebos with green-painted trelliswork. At the aforementioned time, the regulars would start arriving in carriages, who, as soon as they stepped out of them, did so amidst a large number of uniformed police officers and detectives, since, otherwise, every night that place would have turned into a madhouse. The crowd was made up of «compadritos» and “gaviones”. “Wealthy youths” also attended, along with a few businessmen with party-goer aspirations, as well as cattle ranchers taking little vacations. We never saw Jorge Newbery there; he was an athlete. Dancing was not allowed in that establishment. It was prohibited, just like in all public places.”.
Incredible but real
The famous composer Ángel Villoldo, creator of hits such as «La morocha» or the music for «El choclo,» premiered «El Esquinazo» at the Hansen. Every night, when this piece was played, attendees kept the rhythm by clapping. The enthusiasm grew, and a light tapping on the tables was added to the applause. Then they stomped their feet on the floor. The audience raised the temperature with this milonga and demanded encores: it was played up to seven times in a single night. The rhythmic tapping that accompanied the “devilish tango,” as Pintín Castellanos, a Uruguayan pianist and composer, defined it, grew until it turned into the banging of glasses, goblets, and even chairs flying across the venue. Tarana, already tired of so much destruction, had a sign put up that read: “The performance of the tango El esquinazo is strictly prohibited. Prudence is requested in this regard.”.
In 1908 the business was transferred to the Payot and Giardino company that managed it until 1912, the year that coincided with the administration of Joaquín S de Anchorena when the cafe was closed and demolished. And so ended "the thing with Hansen" and with it, a time and a way of living life that will never return.
In 1937, tango composer and film director Manuel Romero presented the film «Los muchachos de antes no usaban gomina», starring the unforgettable actor Florencio Parravicini (as Ponce), where the scenes take place largely at «Lo de Hansen». In addition, he composed the tango «Tiempos Viejos», with music by Francisco Canaro (1926), which goes:
Do you remember, brother, the blonde Mireya
What did I take from the handsome Rivera at Hansen's?
I almost killed myself one night for her,
and today she is a poor ragged beggar…!
Do you remember brother, how pretty she was?
A wheel was formed to see her dance!
When I see her so old on the street,
I turn my head and start crying...
It is not clear if the blonde Mireya existed, but there is no doubt that she embodied the women who went to the Hansen to meet men, very well dressed and with expensive jewelry.
The “chupping-house” of Palermo, as defined by the journalist Félix Lima, accompanied the initial growth of the Tres de Febrero park as a place of recreation for the locals, becoming a milestone in the history of Buenos Aires.
Compilation of texts and images: The chest of history; The nation; ultimatanda.it; Tango history; cafecontado.com; acciontv.com.ar