The Hotel Imperial, also known as The Imperial, is a five-star luxury

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria. It is located on the

Vienna Ring Road The Vienna Ring Road (german: Ringstraße, lit. ''ring road'') is a 5.3 km (3.3 mi) circular grand boulevard that serves as a ring road around the historic Innere Stadt (Inner Town) district of Vienna, Austria. The road is located on sites where ...

(''Ringstraße'') at Kärntner Ring 16, in the

Innere Stadt The Innere Stadt (; Central Bavarian: ''Innare Stod'') is the 1st municipal Districts of Vienna, district of Vienna () located in the center of the Austrian capital. The Innere Stadt is the old town of Vienna. Until the city boundaries were expa ...

district.

Description

The Hotel Imperial's façade is in the Italian

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

style. The top of the building contains a stone balustrade that frames heraldic animals from the

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

coat of arms. The main entrance portal contains four statues that are also symbolic. The original portal was wide enough for a two-horse-drawn carriage. The hotel's interior furnishings highlight the nineteenth-century Viennese elegance with ornate marble, hand-carved statues, and massive crystal chandeliers. In the lobby, the Royal Staircase leads up to suites and rooms that are also illuminated by magnificent chandeliers hanging from the high stucco ceilings. The hotel's private balconies offer views of the ''Altstadt'' skyline.

History

The building was designed by architect Arnold Zenetti and built under the direction of Heinrich Adam in 1863. Initially, it was planned as the city palace (''Stadtpalais'') and residence of

Duke Philipp of Württemberg Duke Philipp of Württemberg (30 July 1838 – 11 October 1917) was a German prince, head of the Roman Catholic cadet branch of the dynasty which ruled the Kingdom of Württemberg. Biography He was the son of Duke Alexander and of Princess ...

(1838–1917) and his wife Maria Theresa (1845–1927), ''née'' Archduchess of Austria; its original name was Palais Württemberg. However, the ducal couple did not enjoy their new home for long. After moving there in 1866, they sold it five years later. For the

1873 Vienna World's Fair ) , building = Rotunda , area = 233 Ha , invent = , visitors = 7,255,000 , organized = , cnt = , org = , biz = , country = Austria-Hungary , city ...

, the palace was converted into a hotel. In 1928, two storeys were added, but the original architecture is still very much in evidence and is an integral part of the luxurious atmosphere. Over the years, the Hotel Imperial has had numerous famous guests, including

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

and

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

. Dignitaries and royalty from around the world have stayed at the Imperial.

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, who worked at the hotel as a day laborer during his youthful period as a virtual tramp in Vienna, returned following the 1938

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

as an honored guest, and had a permanent suite. The Imperial was acquired by Compagnia Italiana Grandi Alberghi (CIGA) after Swiss-born

Prince Karim Aga Khan Shāh Karim al-Husayni (born 13 December 1936), known by the religious title Mawlānā Hazar Imam by his Ismaili followers and elsewhere as Aga Khan IV, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailis, a denomination within Shia Islam. He h ...

acquired the company in 1985 and began expanding its presence (which was purely Italian up to that time) into Spain and Austria. In 1994,

Starwood Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. was one of the largest companies that owned, operated, franchised and managed hotels, resorts, spas, residences, and vacation ownership properties. It was acquired by Marriott International in 2016. ...

acquired CIGA and merged it into

The Luxury Collection Marriott International, Inc. is an American multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging including hotel, residential, and timeshare properties. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. The company was founded by ...

, an assemblage of historic and venerable hotels that have similar grandeur as the Imperial. Before the war, the Imperial had partly been owned by Samuel Schallinger, who was forced to sell it in 1938 due to the Nazi persecution of Jews. Schallinger died in 1942 at the Theresienstadt concentration camp near Prague.

Simon Wiesenthal Simon Wiesenthal (31 December 190820 September 2005) was a history of the Jews in Austria, Jewish Austrian Holocaust survivor, Nazi hunter, and writer. He studied architecture and was living in Lwów at the outbreak of World War II. He surviv ...

, a Jewish Austrian survivor of the Nazi death camps who dedicated his life to documenting the crimes of the Holocaust, celebrated his 90th birthday at the Hotel Imperial in 1998 with a kosher dinner party. “Look, even the chandeliers are shaking,” said Wiesenthal at the dinner. “Hitler is gone. The Nazis are no more. But we are still here, singing and dancing.” Today, the Hotel Imperial is, perhaps, Vienna's most exclusive five-star hotel. Guests of state typically stay at the hotel, such as the Emperor and Empress of Japan on their visit in 2002.

Imperial Torte

A speciality of the hotel is the Imperial cake, known as the Imperial Torte, which is a

marzipan Marzipan is a confectionery, confection consisting primarily of sugar, honey, and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into Confectionery, sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzi ...

and chocolate

torte A torte (from German ''Torte'' ( (in turn from Latin via Italian ''torta'')) is a rich, usually multilayered, cake that is filled with whipped cream, buttercreams, mousses, jams, or fruit. Ordinarily, the cooled torte is glazed and garnish ...

. It is based on a recipe that is said to have been created by an apprentice cook who fashioned it when

Emperor Franz Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

opened the hotel in 1873.History of the Imperial Torte
/ref> The confection comes in either a plain pinewood box or a cardboard box (for shipments), each containing a single torte or a group of small tortes.

References

* Andreas Augustin. ''The Most Famous Hotels in the World: Hotel Imperial Vienna''. 1999.

External links

Hotel Imperial
- official website
Cafe Imperial Wien
at Hotel Imperial *
Vienna's tourist trail of plunder
', Guardian (World News), 21 May 2002. {{DEFAULTSORT:Imperial, Hotel Hotels in Vienna Palaces in Vienna State guesthouses Purveyors to the Imperial and Royal Court The Luxury Collection Hotels established in 1873 Buildings and structures in Innere Stadt Hotel buildings completed in 1863