Hotel Sacher, Wien by Andreas Augustin was published in 2008 (160 pages). It is available in German and in English. This review is based on the English version of the book.
Andreas Augustin, who was born in Vienna, graduated from the Hotel and Tourism College at Klessheim Palace in Salzburg. He worked as a journalist and a newspaper publisher for a while before he decided to focus on the history of individual hotels.
He is the author of several books about historic hotels published by “The Most Famous Hotels in the World,” including The Sofitel Metropole in Hanoi (2001) and The Oriental in Bangkok (2013).
The main text is divided into eleven chapters.
Here are the headlines:
# 01. Travel Diary
# 02. Of Course I Can!
# 03. The Next generation
# 04. Frau Sacher: The Sacher, That’s Me!
# 05. Potentates, Magnates and an Assassination
# 06. Into a New Era
# 07. The Guests Return!
# 08. The Chocolate Cake
# 09. The Third Man
# 10. The Stars Move In
# 11. Investing in the Future
At the end of the book there are three long lists of famous and important people who have visited the hotel since it was founded in 1876. The headline of this section is “Who’s Who in the Hotel Sacher.”
The text is accompanied by numerous well-chosen illustrations, many of them in colour. The style of writing is brisk. This book is an easy read, a quick read. It is entertaining and at the same time informative.
When you have read this book, you know the history of the hotel. You understand why it holds an important place in the history of Vienna, of Austria and indeed of Europe.
Sadly, there are some minor flaws here and there, mostly misprints or missing words. Here are some cases I noticed while reading the book:
** Page 33 – “… with extended…” It should be: which extended…
** Page 40 – “… where his son had dies.” It should be: where his son had died.
** Page 41 – “It was served to told Metternich…” It should be: It was served to Lothar von Metternich…
** Page 41 caption – “Eduard catered at the court of King Milan in Serbia and [the king] returned the compliment with a visit to Sacher’s in 1896.” Two missing words are added in brackets.
** Page 42 – “The there were…” It should be: Then there were…
** Page 63 – “… may robbed…” It should be: may have robbed…
** Page 74 caption – “The tragic assassination of Sarajevo…” It should be: The tragic assassination at Sarajevo…
** Page 99 – “In spit of the Nazi flags…” It should be: In spite of the Nazi flags…
** Page 119 – “… until his tenure was tragically cut short a few months earlier.” It should be: a few months later.
I hope these minor flaws will be corrected if the book is reprinted by the publisher.
If you are interested in tourism and travelling – in particular the history of famous hotels around the world and the role they have played in their local communities - this book is definitely something for you.
*****
Hotel Sacher, Wien
By Andreas Augustin
Published by the Most Famous Hotels in the World
Available in English and in German
160 pages
2008
*****
Das Sacher, Wien
Hotel Sacher, Vienna
*****
On this blog
My review of
Sofitel Metropole Hanoi (2001)
and my review of
The Oriental Bangkok (2013)
*****
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