With the world population ageing at an accelerated pace, finding ways to help people thrive in old age is becoming increasingly important. A care home in Vienna has come up with a novel solution.
What started as an off-the-cuff idea in 2020 - when the Covid lockdowns made life in the senior home especially lonely - has since become a successful microbrewery that's struggling toy keep up with demand.
In 2023 the Brauwerkstatt (brewery) at the Haus Atzgersdorf care home doubled its brewing capacity to 12,000 bottles annually and is planning to double it again this year. Appropriately, their Viennese lager, is called Opa and Oma - Grandpa and Grandma.
The senior home staff takes care of the more physically demanding aspects of the work, but Bernhard Wittholm, a trained beer sommelier who joined the team last year, recognizes that the heart of the project lies elsewhere: “It’s not really about brewing beer but about companionship. The residents have a lot of stories to tell, and it’s good for them to get out of their bubble. You notice that they blossom when they’re here.”
Including the senior residents in the project was crucial from the start, says the home’s director, Christian Ehm: “They’re involved in the whole production process, from brewing to bottling, packaging, a bit of advertising … and drinking.” He laughs. “Doing something you enjoy also keeps you fit and alive.”
While the seniors at Brauwerkstatt found their calling in beer, others have a second career in baking. Vollpension, a popular café and social business in central Vienna, employs “grandmas” (and the occasional “grandpa”) to bake cakes according to their own time-tested recipes. More than half of the 80-strong team is over 60 years old, many of them living alone. Beyond bringing them into regular contact with colleagues and customers of all ages, their work at Vollpension is a valuable top up to their incomes.