Hotel Sacher
Hotel Sacher is a five-star luxury hotel facing the Vienna State Opera, in the Innere Stadt district. It is closely linked to the Sachertorte, the chocolate cake with apricot filling that has become the signature of the house and a symbol of Viennese pastry.
History
The hotel opened in 1876 on the site of the demolished Theater am Kärntnertor, founded by the restaurateur Eduard Sacher, a court purveyor. His father, the confectioner Franz Sacher, had gained fame with a cake that is traditionally said to have been created in 1832 for a reception hosted by Chancellor Klemens von Metternich; this is a popular attribution rather than a firmly documented fact. Eduard had apprenticed at the Demel patisserie and in 1873 opened his first restaurant on Kärntner Straße.
After Eduard's death in 1892, his widow Anna Sacher ran the business. Under her direction the hotel became a meeting place for aristocrats and diplomats, although after the First World War her commercial choices led to financial trouble. In 1934 the Gürtler family took over the business, which was thoroughly renovated. During the Allied occupation of Vienna the British used the hotel as their headquarters, and it later became associated with the film The Third Man. The same family has owned the Hotel Sacher Salzburg since 1989.
Culture
The Sacher attracts opera and theatre artists from the nearby house, and it has hosted royalty and international political figures. Its cake is still served in the hotel restaurant, and the long legal dispute with the Demel patisserie over the name shaped Viennese food culture for decades. Popular culture has taken it into novels, films and television series, reinforcing its place in the city's imagination.
Legend and fact
The attribution of the cake to Metternich and an 1832 banquet circulates as a traditional story and is not confirmed by documents. What is documented is that the recipe became the family's signature specialty.