Lo de Hansen, a legendary bar in Palermo where a tango was banned

Hansen's restaurant, was the most famous of the nightlife spots in Buenos Aires from the last decade of the 1903th century until XNUMX. 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 Tres de Febrero Park, 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 the land that had belonged to Juan Manuel de Rosas, with the idea of ​​renting it out to private individuals. It was called “Palermo Restaurant” and its design reproduced that of the great 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 the new consignee, gave the place a new imprint, so from then no one spoke of the Palermo Restaurant anymore, but they referred to it as “Hansen's thing"
The truth is that "Hansen's thing”, was not just a restaurant: Showing a luxury never seen before in a restaurant, it was a mix of “sumptuous brothel and Tango mecca”, as well as a restaurant. A not very holy antecedent of the "cabarets" that followed him to illuminate the nights of Buenos Aires.

It was a meeting place for “bacanes” and “malandras”, for street gangsters and breakdown people. Of dancers and “cafishios”, who mixed shamelessly, with representatives of the snobbish aristocracy, who were delirious to live those exciting nights that were offered to them 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 "cooperas" who made them feel that they were, what they could never be and forget, even for a single night, a sad and boring life.

But the bottom line was that there was action. Because fights with bare fists or wielding a knife were common and frequent. The challenges, the grim looks, the "squeezing" of a clueless person who dared to invite the pardo Bazán's "mine" to dance, or the fight between women who wanted the same man, were the seasoning of those exciting nights, which attracted a heterogeneous public that used to fill the capacity of the place, knowing that it was possible to stay away from that world and that while dancing some beautiful tangos, you could enjoy excellent drinks and a first class gastronomy service.

“Lo de Hansen” became fashionable and there were the most dazzling figures of entertainment, the arts, music and 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 some "cuts" on his dance floor. During those years, there was no illustrious visitor who was not tempted to discover what was being talked about in a low voice in the most worldly 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 died in 1892, it had several owners, the first 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 act “Lo de Hansen” changed its name, it began to be called “Restaurante Recreo Palermo”. Old Hansen” or also “El café Tarana”.
Tarana had five cars with which clients were taken to and from their homes free of charge (if you drink, don't drive).
The issue of whether or not tango was danced in “Lo de Hansen” is quite controversial.

Félix Lima, in an article in the magazine “Caras y Caretas” writes: “The siphons, glasses, bottles and chairs frequently flew. Sometimes shots and stab wounds. More than one taita went to the other world from the Hansen stage on a direct trip, 'without playing' the hospital.” … “Dancing was prohibited, but behind the Hansen mansion, in the area of ​​the roundabouts, there was a nice tangueábaba, sleepyhead tangos, contraband. … ” 'La Morocha', Saborido's tango, was played lap after lap, it was at the height of its popularity. The nocturnal orchestra was line. Bandoneon 'Pas'. The bellows had not yet made itself present in public. The tangos by Bassi and Villoldo – El Incendio and El Choclo – opened up the field. 'Unión Cívica', the best tango by the composer Santa Cruz, was also in fashion…”. We refer to the golden age of the Hansen, from 1903 to 1908.

Alfredo Taullard in his book “Our Old Buenos Aires” (Peuser, 1927) describes it: “The Hansen had the appearance of an Andalusian diner and a German beer hall. From several blocks away, at midnight, his location could be discovered by the lines of lights from the carriage lanterns and the colored lanterns that illuminated the roundabouts. In those gazebos they dined, amidst laughter and entertainment, and in the large patio the parishioners drank under a leafy roof of wisteria and fragrant honeysuckle. The orchestra played milongas, polkas and waltzes”.

On the other hand, the "box" Adolfo Bioy (father) in "Antes del 900 (Relatos)" expresses "... There the tango was danced, before this dance had become fashionable in the halls of the city, we used to go there for from time to time to execute our qualities of skulls, at the risk of incidents with the malevos 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 would be heard, although perhaps one or another would take a few laps in a hidden roundabout”, but he also says that on December 16, 1961 he interviewed Felipe Amadeo Lastra, an old criollo horse breeder, now in his eighties, who vehemently insisted that “there was no dancing at Hansen's. Where was he going to dance? Between the trees?

Miguel Ángel Scenna recounts that Lastra said that “Hansen's, during the day and until eleven at night, was a peaceful restaurant, but that, after that time, night walkers began to arrive. If it rained, there was no Hansen. In that courtyard there were countless rectangular marble tables and iron bases, therefore they were quite heavy and difficult to move. Surrounding it were roundabouts with trellis painted green. At the mentioned time, the parishioners began to arrive in carriages who, since they got off them, did so amidst uniformed policemen and inquiries in large numbers, since, otherwise, every night, that would have turned out to be a field of agramante The concurrence was made up of “compadritos” and “gabions”. There were also "good children" and a few merchants with the whims of revelers, as well as ranchers who took little vacations. We never saw Jorge Newbery there; he was an athlete. In that place he did not dance. It was prohibited, as in all public places.

Incredible but real

The famous composer Ángel Villoldo, creator of hits such as “La morocha” or the music of “El choclo”, premiered “El Esquinazo” at the Hansen. Every night, when this piece was played, the attendees set the rhythm by clapping. Enthusiasm grew and applause was added to a slight tapping on the tables. Then they clicked on the ground. The public raised the temperature with this milonga and asked for encores: they were played seven times in the same night. The rhythmic pounding that accompanied the "diabolical tango", as defined by Pintín Castellanos, Uruguayan pianist and composer, grew until it became the blows of glasses, goblets and even chairs that flew around the venue, Tarana, already tired of so much damage, put a sign that said: “Strictly prohibited the performance of the tango El esquinazo. Prudence is requested in this regard."

In 1908, the business was transferred to the Payot y Giardino company, which managed it until 1912, the year that coincided with the administration of Joaquín S de Anchorena, when the café was closed and demolished. And so ended "the Hansen thing" and with it, an era and a way of living 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 largely take place in “Lo de Hansen”. In addition, he composed the tango “Tiempos Viejos”, with music by Francisco Canaro (1926), and which says:

Do you remember, brother, 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 beautiful it was?
A wheel was formed to see her dance!
When I see her so old on the street,
I turn my face and start to cry...

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 the journalist Félix Lima defined it, accompanied the initial growth of Parque Tres de Febrero as a place of recreation for the people of Buenos Aires, becoming a milestone in the history of Buenos Aires.

Compilation of texts and images: The chest of history; The nation; ultimatanda.it; history of tango; cafecontado.com; acciontv.com.ar