Lo de Hansen, a mythical Palermo bar where a tango was banned

Hansen's restaurantwas the most famous nightlife venue 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 used to go there. It was located in the heart of the Tres de Febrero Park, in the neighbourhood of Palermo, with its entrance on Sarmiento Avenue between the railway 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 the lands that had belonged to Juan Manuel de Rosas, with the idea of renting it out to private individuals. It was called "Restorán Palermo" and its design reproduced that of the large open-air restaurants that were fashionable in Europe at that time.
This restaurant was operated with varying degrees of success by different concessionaires, until 1875, when a German born in Hamburg called Johan Hansen appeared on the scene, who, as the new consignee, gave a new stamp to the restaurant, so that from then on nobody spoke of the Palermo Restaurant, but referred to it as "Palermo Restaurant".About Hansen"
The reality is that "about Hansen"It was not only a restaurant: showing a luxury never seen before in a restaurant, it was a mixture of "sumptuous brothel and Tango Mecca", as well as a restaurant. A not very saintly antecedent of the "cabarets" that followed to illuminate the nights of Buenos Aires.

It was a meeting place for "bacanes" and "malandras", for "patoteros" and "malandras", for "patoteros" and "gente de avería". Of dancers and "cafishios", who mixed shamelessly with representatives of the snobbish aristocracy, who were delirious to live those exciting nights offered in "Lo de Hansen". Because there they could see tango dancing well, there they could listen to the best "typical" orchestras of the time, enjoy the very pleasant company of beautiful "coperas" who made them feel that they were what they could never be and forget, even if it was only for one night, a sad and boring life.

But the bottom line was that there was action. Because fist fights or knife fights were commonplace and frequent. The challenges, the dirty looks, the "squeezing" of a clueless man who dared to ask the "mina" of the pardo Bazán to dance, or the fight between women who wanted the same man, were the spice 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 nice tangos, one could enjoy excellent drinks and a first class gastronomic service.

"Lo de Hansen" became fashionable and the most glittering figures of the show business, the arts, music and politics went there. The most famous tango orchestras in the history of our popular music played there, as well as the best singers and songwriters. There danced "el Cachafaz" and even some Argentinean President dared to "cortes" on its dance floor. During those years, there was no illustrious visitor who was not tempted to get to know what was being talked about in the most worldly salons of Europe. One night the great Italian soprano Adelina Patti visited him, who did not want to leave the country without spending a few hours in that authentic atmosphere where one of the first milongas was born.

After Hansen's death, in 1892, it had several owners, the first one being Enrique Lamarque, until, at the end of 1903, the concession of the place was granted to another immigrant: this time it was the Lombard Anselmo R. Tarana. From that moment on, "Lo de Hansen" changed its name to "Restaurante Recreo Palermo. Antiguo Hansen" or also "El café Tarana".
Tarana had five cars in which customers were taken to and from 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 were often blown up. Sometimes shots and stabbings. More than one taita passed to the other world from the stage of the Hansen on a direct trip, 'senza tocare' to the hospital". ... "It was forbidden to dance, but at the back of the Hansen's house, in the area of the roundabouts, there were nice tangueábase, sleepy tangos, smuggled in. ... " 'La Morocha', Saborido's tango, was played turn by turn, it was at the height of its popularity. The night orchestra was a line-up. Pas' de bandoneón. The bellows had not yet made its presence felt in public. The tangos by Bassi and Villoldo - El Incendio and El Choclo - were opening up. Unión Cívica', the best tango by the composer Santa Cruz, was also in fashion...". We are referring to the golden age of the Hansen, from 1903 to 1908.

Alfredo Taullard in his book "Nuestro Antiguo Buenos Aires" (Peuser, 1927) describes it: "The Hansen had the appearance of an Andalusian snack bar and German brewery. From several blocks away, at midnight, its location could be discovered by the lines of lights from the carriage lanterns and the coloured lanterns that illuminated the roundabouts. In these gazebos they dined, amidst laughter and farandole, and in the large courtyard the patrons drank under a leafy roof of wisteria and fragrant honeysuckles. The orchestra played milongas, polkas and waltzes.

On the other hand, the "cajetilla" Adolfo Bioy (father) in "Antes del 900 (Relatos)" expresses "... tango was danced there, before this dance had become fashionable in the salons of the city, there we went from time to time to perform our qualities of skulls, at the risk of incidents with the malevos who swarmed in that den".

Leonardo Benarós tells us that Roberto Firpo used to say: "I played at Hansen's in 1908. Some people say that people danced. That's a lie. It was played to be heard, although maybe, one or the other one, perhaps, did some turns in a hidden gazebo", but he also says that on 16 December 1961 he interviewed Felipe Amadeo Lastra, an old breeder of criollo horses, already an octogenarian, who insisted vehemently that "at Hansen's they didn't dance. Where did they go to dance, among the trees?

Miguel Ángel Scenna, relates that Lastra, said that "Hansen's, during the day and until eleven o'clock at night, was a peaceful restaurant, but that, after that time, the night strollers began to arrive. If it rained, there was no Hansen's. In the courtyard there were countless marble tables with a rectangular shape and an iron base, so they were quite heavy and difficult to move. Surrounding it, there were gazebos with green painted trellises. At the aforementioned time, the parishioners began to arrive in carriages, and as soon as they got out of them, they were surrounded by uniformed policemen and a large number of investigators, otherwise, every night, the place would have turned into a field of Agramante. The crowd was made up of "compadritos" and "gaviones". There were also "good kids" and a few shopkeepers with the fervour of revellers, as well as cattle ranchers who took little vacations. We never saw Jorge Newbery there; he was a sportsman. There was no dancing there. It was forbidden, as in all public places.

Unbelievable but real

The famous composer Ángel Villoldo, creator of hits such as "La morocha" and the music for "El choclo", premiered "El Esquinazo" at the Hansen. Every night, when this piece was played, the audience clapped along to the rhythm. The enthusiasm grew and the applause was joined by a light tapping on the tables. Then they stamped their feet on the floor. The audience increased the temperature with this milonga and asked for encores: it was played seven times in the same night. The rhythmic pounding that accompanied the "devilish tango", as Pintín Castellanos, Uruguayan pianist and composer, defined it, grew to the point that glasses, cups and even chairs flew around the place. Tarana, tired of so much damage, had a sign put up saying: "The performance of the tango El esquinazo is strictly forbidden. Prudence is requested in this respect".

In 1908 the business was transferred to the Payot and Giardino company, who managed it until 1912, the same year as Joaquín S de Anchorena's mayoralty, when the café was closed and demolished. And so ended "Hansen's" and with it, an era and a way of life that will never return.

In 1937 the tango composer and film director Manuel Romero presented the film "Los muchachos de antes no usaban gomina", with the unforgettable actor Florencio Parravicini (as Ponce), where the scenes take place largely in "Lo de Hansen". He also composed the tango "Tiempos Viejos", with music by Francisco Canaro (1926), which goes:

Do you remember, brother, the blonde Mireya
that I removed 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 beautiful she was?
A wheel was formed to see her dance!
When I see her so old in the street,
I turn my face away and start to cry...

It is not clear whether the blonde Mireya existed, but there is no doubt that she embodied the women who went to the Hansen's to meet men, all dressed up and wearing expensive jewellery.
The "chupping-house" of Palermo, as the journalist Félix Lima defined it, accompanied the initial growth of the Tres de Febrero park as a place of recreation for the porteños, becoming a landmark in the history of Buenos Aires.

Compilation of texts and images: El arcón de la historia; La Nación; ultimatanda.it; Historia del tango; cafecontado.com; acciontv.com.ar