When the Nazis came to power, Joseph Roth went into exile in Paris, living initially in the Hôtel Foyot, where he had also stayed during previous trips to Paris. After having to watch his domicile be torn down, the Hôtel de la Poste and the Café Le Tournon, which was part of the hotel, became his new place of refuge and where he did his writing. In the midst of the daily business, he carried out intense discussions with a circle of Austrian Legitimists and Catholics about the “old world” of the Hapsburg monarchy, Kaiser Franz Joseph and writers from the 19th and 20th century.

Roth authored many of his feature articles, polemic commentaries and notes at his table in the café. The well-known story The Legend of the Holy Drinker is also supposed to have originated from a conversation there.

The severe alcoholic Roth only seldom left his place in the café towards the end, for example, to go for a walk in the park of the nearby Palais du Luxembourg. Stephan Heller, an industrialist and friend of Roth later said when remembering scenes in the café, that Roth was sick and fragile. Despite this, Roth sometimes worked up to 20 hours a day and was in credibly tough when it came to work. Roth died on 27 May 1939 in Paris.