Hotel Sacher is a five-star luxury hotel in Vienna , Austria, facing the Vienna State Opera in the city's central Innere Stadt district. It is famous for the specialty of the house, the Sachertorte , a chocolate cake with apricot filling. There is also an art gallery in the hotel, with works from the 19th century. The hotel is located near the former residence of Antonio Vivaldi . Hotel Sacher is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World , a marketing network.
16-463: The hotel was founded in 1876 as a maison meublée at the site of the demolished Theater am Kärntnertor by the restaurateur and k.u.k. purveyor to the court Eduard Sacher [ de ] (1843–1892). His father, the confectioner Franz Sacher (1816–1907), had become famous for his Sachertorte, which he allegedly created for a reception given by Austrian State Chancellor Klemens von Metternich in 1832. Eduard Sacher did an apprenticeship at
32-528: A German version of the Italian commedia dell'arte . The theatre was managed by Stranitzky's widow after his death. In 1728, court artists Borosini and Selliers, who had performed intermezzi in both German and Italian, became the Kärntnertortheater's directors. From 1742 to 1750, the theatre was leased to Selliers alone. In 1752, however, Maria Theresa withdrew the imperial privilege, placing
48-563: A spacious spa area on its roof in 2005/06, which caused a stir with historic preservationists. The Sachertorte is still served in the hotel restaurant after decades of litigation with the Demel patisserie were brought to an end. Among the famous guests over the decades were not only Emperor Franz Joseph but also King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson , Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip , Prince Rainier III of Monaco and Grace Kelly , President John F. Kennedy and many others. Being close to
64-603: Is a 1939 German drama film directed by Erich Engel and starring Sybille Schmitz , Willy Birgel , and Wolf Albach-Retty . The film's sets were designed by the art director Hans Ledersteger and Hans Richter. It was partly shot on location in Vienna, which had recently been taken over by Nazi Germany . Interior scenes were shot at the Rosenhügel Studios . Shortly before the First World War at
80-670: The Hotel Sacher . Gerhard Bronner 's cabaret stadtTheater walfischgasse [ de ] used the name Neues Theater am Kärntnertor (New Theatre at the Kärntnertor) from 1959 to 1973, before adopting its present name. During its heyday, several composers conducted the theatre orchestra, including the young Franz Lachner and Ferdinando Paer . Notes Sources 48°12′12″N 16°22′15″E / 48.20333°N 16.37083°E / 48.20333; 16.37083 Hotel Sacher (film) Hotel Sacher
96-535: The City of Vienna, and it was intended (as Eva Badura-Skoda notes) to be "frequented by the Viennese population of all classes". However, at the command of the emperor, the first performances were of Italian operas, an elite form of entertainment. In 1711, the theatre was redirected to its original purpose when it was placed under the direction of Josef Stranitzky , who put on a variety of entertainment, often embodying
112-625: The First World War, The Second Seal . Appearing as herself, she plays a fictional role in the events of June/July 1914 in Vienna, aiding the book's hero the Duke de Richleau at several points. The hotel also found fame in the German-speaking world via the 1939 film Hotel Sacher , as well as by the popular Austrian TV series Hallo – Hotel Sacher … Portier! , starring Fritz Eckhardt . Romy Schneider stayed at Hotel Sacher during
128-550: The court theatre). From 1821, the Italian impresario Domenico Barbaia added the venue to the string of theatres under his management and presented Italian operas . Beginning in 1861, the Vienna Court Opera House (now the Vienna State Opera ) was built on the adjoining grounds. It was completed in 1869, and in 1870, the former theatre was razed, making way for the apartment building that became
144-695: The hotel business was taken over by the Gürtler family under the company name "Eduard Sacher GmbH & Co OHG", and the building was extensively renovated. After the end of World War II, Allied-occupied Austria , like Germany, was divided into four zones by the victorious powers. Vienna, like Berlin, was also subdivided into four zones. During the occupation, the British used the hardly damaged Hotel Sacher as their headquarters and it appears in Carol Reed 's film The Third Man , as script writer Graham Greene
160-531: The opera house, Hotel Sacher has also been popular among artists such as Herbert von Karajan , Leonard Bernstein , Leo Slezak , Plácido Domingo , José Carreras , and Rudolf Nureyev . On 31 March 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono gave a well received " Bagism " press conference in Hotel Sacher. Anna Sacher and her hotel were memorialised in Dennis Wheatley 's 1950 novel about the outbreak of
176-405: The patisserie Demel and in 1873 opened his first restaurant on Kärntner Straße . In 1880, he married Anna Sacher née Fuchs (1859–1930), who became managing director after his death. She quickly earned a reputation for both her commercial skills and her eccentricity, never being seen without her French Bulldogs and a cigar. Under her management, Hotel Sacher became one of the finest hotels in
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#1732775622531192-511: The shooting of Sissi in 1955. Director Ernst Marischka allegedly had been inspired by her resemblance to a statue of Empress Elisabeth in the hotel. The 2016 Austrian historical drama television series Das Sacher revolved around fictional events in the hotel. 48°12′14″N 16°22′10″E / 48.20389°N 16.36944°E / 48.20389; 16.36944 Theater am K%C3%A4rntnertor Theater am Kärntnertor or Kärntnertortheater ( Carinthian Gate Theatre)
208-576: The theatre under the direct scrutiny of the magistrates of Vienna. The first theatre burned in 1761 and was rebuilt by court architect Nicolò Pacassi ; two years later it reopened, again under protective privilege, as the Kaiserliches und Königliches Hoftheater zu Wien (Imperial and Royal Court Theatre of Vienna). From the early nineteenth century, ballets were added to the repertory, as well as Italian and German operas. From 1811 to 1814, Ignaz Franz Castelli served as Hoftheaterdichter (poet of
224-405: The world, where the aristocracy and diplomats would meet. However, after World War I , Anna Sacher upheld the upper-class reputation of the hotel and denied service to guests of non-aristocratic descent while granting generous credit to impoverished aristocrats. Her management ran the business into financial problems, and eventually to bankruptcy and a change of ownership in the 1930s. In 1934,
240-462: Was a prestigious theatre in Vienna during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its official title was Kaiserliches und Königliches Hoftheater zu Wien (Imperial and Royal Court Theatre of Vienna). The theatre was built in 1709 to designs by Antonio Beduzzi on a site near the former Kärntnertor, on the grounds of the present Hotel Sacher . The expenses of building the theatre were borne by
256-591: Was a regular at the hotel bar while doing research in Vienna. On August 4, 1947, two suitcase bombs exploded in the basement of the hotel. The terrorist group Irgun claimed responsibility for the bombing. Since 1989, the Gürtler family has also owned the former Österreichischer Hof hotel in Salzburg , which reopened as the Hotel Sacher Salzburg . The Hotel Sacher in Vienna added another floor with
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