Like one big family

Frank Anton & the family café Krümel

The "Familiencafé Krümel" has been a meeting place and play paradise in Reitbahnstraße since February this year. Here, guests big and small have space to let off steam on over 200 square metres, while mum, dad, grandma and grandpa can enjoy their coffee and home-baked cake in comfort. We spoke to the owner Frank Anton.

What is special about the family café?
Frank Anton: We make everything ourselves. For example, we don't have any ready-made juice spritzers because they contain more sugar than anything else. We have direct juices and mix them with mineral water - and the spritzer is ready. We bake our own bread, cakes and pies, and our hot meals are home-cooked. We know what's in them and pay close attention to it. Allergies are on the rise and we can react to them.

The family café first opened on Kaßberg in 2014. At 83 square metres, it was tucked away in a backyard. "Anyone who wanted to come to us found us. In the end, we were bursting at the seams," says owner Frank Anton. Reason enough for him to move to the city centre.

How did the move from Kaßberg to Reitbahnstraße come about?
We had specialised more in small children on Kaßberg. The "Käptn Milchbart" café was quite suitable for older children. Big children play differently to little ones. So we thought about offering something for younger children up to the age of five. Last summer, "Käptn Milchbart" closed. So the older children came to us, even though we weren't built for them. So we decided to move on and look for new premises. We didn't find any suitable premises on Kaßberg, so we looked around and ended up here.

What is particularly nice here in Reitbahnstraße is the co-operation between the local tradespeople. The neighbourhood management regularly invites people to a business breakfast. It's a great way of working together. People knew us before we even started here.

What other changes came with the move to the city centre?
We have two more rooms at the back. In one of them, we sell and buy children's clothes. In the second room, we have opened a Finkid store, a children's clothing brand. The Finkid shop on Henriettenstraße closed a year and a half ago. Many people regretted this loss. So we thought about integrating such a shop into the café.

How was the move received by your guests?
Some came here from Kaßberg. Word got around, especially via Facebook. That helps, of course. So far, we've been full almost every afternoon. Most of the guests are new. And we haven't even done much advertising.

What can the children experience here?
We took the dragon from the old café and rebuilt it a bit. It's a bit difficult for the younger children, but just right for the older ones. We also built a castle, connected by the connecting tube. We have separated off the rear area for the younger children. The little ones can crawl there. We have motor skills platforms, bouncy cars, books and toys.

Is there a favourite play area for the children?
The castle at the back has been very well received. I never really wanted a long corridor. Because a long corridor naturally encourages running. But the children love to play here with the bouncy cars and bouncy animals.

Baker, cook, restaurateur, toy maker and contact person for young mums - Frank Anton combines all of this in one person. The qualified naturopath has been running the family café with his partner for three years now. They also run a hairdressing salon in Euba.

What plans do you have for the coming weeks and months?
Nothing new for the café for now. Maybe we'll change one or two things. We're going to organise the windowsills so that people can sit there nicely. The courtyard behind the house is for communal use. We won't be installing any outdoor seating there, but we are planning a balancing and climbing area for the children. But it won't be a public playground.

Why did you decide to open a family café three years ago? What was the reason?
It was actually spite (laughs). I previously had my own practice as a naturopath. When our daughter was born, I could no longer offer fixed opening hours. However, my patients resented this and the practice was no longer running. We also wanted to keep the hairdressing salon alive. We then looked around a bit to see what else we could do. We visited "Käptn Milchbart" and a children's café in Dresden's Neustadt district. Then we had the idea in our heads. And I really wanted to go to Kaßberg. I looked around a lot until I found something suitable. And the last chance I gave Kaßberg was the place where we set up the café.

Can children play well in Chemnitz?
We have many playgrounds in the city that are ideal for children from the age of six. However, there are very few playgrounds for children under six. About a year ago, there was a public consultation for the playground at Rosenplatz. Together with the parks department and the children's commissioner, interested parents got involved and made suggestions. We were told that the city was focussing on playgrounds for children aged between six and ten. The situation with sandpits is not so good, as the sand has to be replaced regularly. And that is too cost-intensive.

Are you from Chemnitz?
Actually, yes. We moved to the village in 1999. In a town, people meet in the playground. That's where parents get to talk to each other and socialise. In the village, you have your own playground in your own garden. The children either know each other from nursery school or don't know each other at all. But it's quieter and we can still get to the city quickly.

Are there any plans for the coming years?
We are better at reacting than planning. We prefer to let things come to us. If I plan too much, things can go wrong.

And if I asked you what you want to have achieved by 2025? What would the answer be?
Well, if we can make a good living from the family café, then I would be thrilled. The past few years have been a bit of a slow period. We first had to get the café up and running. Of course we have regular customers, but the children are also getting older. So we always have to keep in touch and bring the "new generation" here. So there is always a change in our guests. We experience really great things with the children here: we see them lying in their infant carriers, their first turns on the blanket and their first steps.
Since the first week of the café on Kaßberg, we have had a regulars' table. Women who have known each other since antenatal classes or baby swimming. We now have siblings and it's just lovely to accompany and watch them. The joy of the mums is great. Our daughter is also always there and has the mums read to her. If there are any problems or difficulties, we try to provide support and be a little help. It's almost like a family.