1936 On the Continent

he can—intersects the “City” of Vienna, the Inner Town. It leads to St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the most beautiful Gothic church in the country, in which you will find at the back of the right-hand aisle a stained-glass window which is only known by the natives, and is one of the most beautiful circular windows that has ever been made. You must understand that the cathedral not only lies almost mathematically in the centre of the town, it is the symbol of Vienna—“Alte Steffel,” the subject of countless songs. In Stefansplatz, where up to 1788 there was a cemetery, you will find again some very modern shops, but on the north side is the Archbishop’s palace. Towards the south-west the Stefansplatz turns into the Stockin-Eisenplatz, into which on the right opens the famous Graben, whilst on the left you find yourself in a labyrinth of small old streets, which should be seen by moonlight when the witchery of old Vienna is brought to life. Here Baroque palaces shoulder one another, places of entertainment alternate with convents, and here and there, as in the Franziskanerplatz, the most beautiful square in the Inner Town, is a lovely old spring, which sings us songs of the beautiful enchanted past.
    It is not easy to get lost in this labyrinth, as you can always get back either to the Ring or the Kärntnerstrasse, when you will know where you are. You have now seen almostthe whole of the first district, you know the Mariahilferstrasse, and you are really tired and would like to look for a hotel. As you have some idea of the place, you are in a position to decide where you would best like to stay.
Looking for Accommodation in Vienna
    Where then, would you like to stay? You will find hotels and pensions of all varieties as far as price and comfort go. Accommodation is not only a question of the pocket book, it is also a question of individual tastes. He who values and prefers the old and solid (the bourgeois if you will), even if he can afford to stay at the New Bristol on the Ringstrasse, will choose a more modest shelter. There is no completely modern hotel after the American style in Vienna. But the new Bristol Hotel caters for the most fastidious tastes, as may be gathered from the fact that King Edward VIII, when Prince of Wales, stayed there and much enjoyed himself in his luxurious apartments. He looked from the windows on to the Ringstrasse, peopled by beautiful Viennese women in charming toilettes, he eat in the very modern dining-room and amused himself in the evenings in the small but attractive Bristol Bar, when he was not studying Viennese life elsewhere. The Bristol is hardly Viennese, it is a continental hotel with rooms in many different styles, with a first-class French cuisine and the whirl of international coming-and-going from morning until night, which characterises a great hotel. Utterly different, quiet, distinguished, is the Sacher, at which the aristocracy of Austria stay, and from which originate the Sacher cakes, famous all over the world. Taste these cakes whatever happens—they are as choice as an old wine and their history is memorable, as they go back to Prince Metternich, whose chef invented them when he laid the foundation stone for the Sacher Hotel. In the Sacher also you will see the most remarkable visitors’ book in the world: the names are written on a tablecloth, and they are truly kingly names. Amongst them is that of the Emperor Francis Joseph, who was at the time in the company of his intimate friend for many years, the much-admired actress, Katherina Schratt, who is still living on the outskirts of Vienna. Although the Emperor never stayed at the Sacher, he registered hisgratitude for the Sacher cakes by signing his name on a fine serviette provided for him by Katherina Schratt. In the Sacher every room breathes history. Here diplomatic negotiations have taken place, and here, if you are lucky, you may see kings drinking black coffee and reading the newspapers. The Imperial on the Ringstrasse was once the palace of the Dukes of Württemberg; it is therefore built on a very lordly scale, a great magnificent castle in the heart of the world-famous city. In the Imperial, artists and scholars stay—Thomas Mann, Einstein and Sinclair Lewis, and Galsworthy stayed here when he was in Vienna. The cuisine is remarkably good, the management ideal. The good class “station hotel” in Vienna is the Grand, opposite the Imperial. This is a meeting-place of directors of business