by Chris Sanders

Created on: December 08, 2006   Last Updated: April 17, 2007

Hotel Sacher

The hotel Sacher is situated at the very heart of Vienna, not far from the "Ringstrabe."
This magnificent building was founded by Edward Sacher in 1876. Each of its luxury
108 rooms were designed by the managing director, Ms Elisabeth Gurter. The rooms maintain their historical charm and each contains valuable historical paintings
and antiquities.

The hotel's famous Anna Sacher' restaurant features a collection of paintings by the renowned artist, Anton Faistauer, and reflects the charms of the nineteenth and twentieth century. Its international cuisine has made the Sacher well known all over the world.

After the Second World War, the different Allied forces controlled Vienna and her hotels. The Sacher hotel fell under the authority of the British. In February 1948, the English author Graham Greene arrived at the hotel seeking inspiration for a film script that he'd been commissioned to write. With only a matter of days left in Vienna, and with no clear plot outline in sight, Greene had begun to despair.

With only three days remaining Greene had the good fortune to meet with a young British Intelligence officer. This officer, later to become the Duke of Albans, told Greene an incredible tale involving real life police who controlled the sewers beneath the city. The officer also mentioned penicillin rackets and, after both had finished lunch, had even taken Greene on a tour of the sewers. The plot for The Third Man' burst into Greene's head. He raced back to the Sacher and started work on the script straight away.

Learn more about this author, Chris Sanders.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.