Hotel Sacher, Vienna

Immediately behind the Vienna State Opera stands Hotel Sacher, an upscale establishment of exceptional quality. Eduard Sacher opened it in 1876, carrying the name of his father Franz, the confectioner associated with Sachertorte. The house is internationally known for its Original Sachertorte, a chocolate cake filled with apricot, and for belonging to The Leading Hotels of the World.

Its story also has a remarkable character at its heart. After Eduard died, Anna Sacher took charge and made the hotel her own. She was famous for appearing with a cigar and her French Bulldogs, while running the business with strictness and care.

The hotel became a meeting place for aristocrats, diplomats, politicians, and artists connected with the nearby opera. During the Allied occupation after the Second World War, British forces used the largely undamaged building as their headquarters. The writer Graham Greene spent time in the bar while researching Vienna, and an account of underground passages gave him the spark for The Third Man.

In 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono held a press conference here. Inside, the hotel also contains a gallery of nineteenth-century art, while the Original Sachertorte remains its most famous edible signature.