Vienna - Hotel Sacher

Vienna's most famous old-world hotel, the Sacher, still preserves its style and quality, with silk tablecloths, Biedermeier furniture from the mid 19th C. and valuable pictures. Important state receptions still take place in the nostalgic marble hall. Eduard Sacher had the hotel built in 1876. But his cigar- smoking wife Anna Sacher became more famous than he did. She used to allow unlimited credit to the offspring of rich parents - the so-called "Sacher lads" - until they came into their inheritances. She also organized those discreet little "séparées" which have survived at any rate in Arthur Schnitzler's "Abschiedssouper" (The Farewell Supper). Now the famous "separate rooms" have become little dining rooms. The legendary Sachertorte is said to have been created by one of Eduard Sacher's predecessors on the occasion of the Congress of Vienna in 1814 - however, the source of the original recipe is still contested in the courts by its competitor Demel. The cakes are on sale in all sizes and boxes in a tiny shop around the corner in Kärtner Strasse.