History Hotel Sacher



hotel sacher, c. 1890


the hotel founded in 1876 maison meublée @ site of demolished theater kärntnertor restaurateur , k.u.k. purveyor court eduard sacher (1843–1892). father, confectioner franz sacher (1816–1907) had become famous sachertorte, allegedly created reception given austrian state chancellor klemens von metternich in 1832. eduard sacher did apprenticeship @ patisserie demel , in 1873 opened first restaurant on kärntner straße.


in 1880 married anna sacher née fuchs (1859–1930), became managing director after death. earned reputation both commercial skills , eccentricity, never been seen without french bulldogs , cigar. under management, hotel sacher became 1 of finest hotels in world, aristocracy , diplomats meet. however, after world war anna sacher upheld upper-class reputation of hotel , denied service guests of non-aristocratic descent, @ same time granting generous credit impoverished aristocrats. management ran business financial problems , bankruptcy , change of ownership in 1930s.


in 1934, hotel business taken on gürtler family under company name eduard sacher gmbh & co ohg , building extensively renovated. after end of world war ii, allied-occupied austria, germany, divided 4 zones victorious powers. vienna, berlin, subdivided 4 zones. during occupation british used hardly damaged sacher hotel headquarters , appears in carol reed s film third man, script writer graham greene regular @ hotel bar while doing research in vienna. on august 4, 1947, 2 suitcase bombs exploded in basement of hotel. terrorist group irgun claimed responsibility bombing.



evening in lounge


since 1989 gürtler family has owned former Österreichischer hof hotel in salzburg reopened hotel sacher salzburg. sacher hotel in vienna added floor spacious spa area on roof in 2005/06, caused stir historic preservationists. sachertorte still served in hotel restaurant after decades of litigation demel patisserie brought end.


among famous guests on decades not emperor franz joseph king edward viii , wallis simpson, queen elizabeth ii , prince philip, prince rainier iii of monaco , grace kelly, president john f. kennedy , many others. being close opera, hotel sacher has been popular among artists such herbert von karajan, leonard bernstein, leo slezak, plácido domingo, josé carreras, , rudolf nureyev. on 31 march 1969 john lennon , yoko ono gave received bagism press conference in hotel sacher.


frau sacher , hotel memorialised in dennis wheatley s 1950 novel outbreak of first world war, second seal. appearing herself, plays fictional role in events of june/july 1914 in vienna, aiding book s hero duke de richleau @ several points.


the hotel found fame in german-speaking world via 1939 film hotel sacher directed erich engel, starring willy birgel , wolf albach-retty, popular austrian tv series hallo ... hotel sacher, portier starring fritz eckhardt. wolf albach-retty s daughter romy schneider stayed @ hotel sacher during shooting of sissi in 1955. director ernst marischka allegedly had been inspired resemblance statue of empress elisabeth in hotel.








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