Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki of the Sas coat of arms was a Polish nobleman, diplomat, and spy during the Great Turkish War of Ukrainian origin. For his actions at the 1683 Battle of Vienna, when he managed to get out of the besieged city to seek help, he was considered a hero by the local people. According to legend, he is often cited as starting the first café in the city in 1683, using coffee beans left behind by the retreating Ottoman Turks. However, more recent sources suggest that the first coffeehouse in Vienna was opened by the Armenian Johannes Theodat in 1685.

The Battle of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mountain near Vienna on 12 September 1683 after the city had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months. The battle was fought by the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, both under the command of King John III Sobieski, against the Ottomans and their vassal and tributary states. The battle marked the first time the Commonwealth and the Holy Roman Empire had cooperated militarily against the Ottomans. The defeat is often seen as a turning point for Ottoman expansion into Europe, after which they would gain no further ground. In the ensuing war that lasted until 1699, the Ottomans would cede most of Ottoman Hungary to Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor.