Yesterday, my girl and I celebrated our 20th anniversary at the Grotesque Absinth Bar located in the historical old town of Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
What. An. Exceptional. Location.
Reservations are handled through a historic telephone (it really works), the staff is dressed in 20s clothing, vintage music is playing in the background the entire time, every table gets it´s own Absinthe fountain with ice cold water and ice cubes, along with white and brown (!) sugar cubes and spoons and glasses (which are swapped for every new round of Absinthe, so you get different models and fresh ones each round).
The place is full of antique and vintage decoration and props. Green glowing, luminous lamps and chandeliers, real books (Lovecraft, Poe etc) and boardgames. Comfy classic chairs.
There´s a secret door to the rest rooms, disguised as a book shelf. Rest rooms are full of vintage photos and pages of a fictional gazette from the local LARP-club.
And for fans of Lovecraftian iconography: a huge octopus fresco above the fireplace.
The Absinthe is not set on fire and the staff help you with choosing a brand and explain all it´s details like taste and ingredients.
People who look and act like they don´t belong there are fully immersed after a glass and there were even a bunch of dudes playing a Call of Cthulhu RPG session at one table.
Highly recommended. Just make sure to book a table in advance via phone.
The bar has a Facebook page and a website of course.
The address is: Rennbahn 1, 52062 Aachen, Germany.