Hans Funk Journeyman Years

My maternal grandfather Hans Funk was born  in the  home of his mother Anna. Anna was already forty two years  old, she was not a young mother any more. Meanwhile, she had become a competent business woman who was instrumental  in the planning and execution of the new Hotel Hopfenstock.

Thus Hans grew up with his siblings and servants.

Hans Funk in the middle

Hans Funk in Mozart Costume, frame made from Geysir sediments

I think my grandfather Funk was already as a child very serious and responsibly.

Once he wrote in my poetry album

Handle weise, handle recht,

wer sich nicht selbst befiehlt

bleibt immer Knecht.

Act fairly, act right,
who cannot command himself
will always be knight

 

 

 

Yes, according to this principles, he was always proper and decent, he was distinguished, he was the respected  „Herr Hans".

He regulary  wore a suit or frock coat, a white shirt and always a tie. A striped shirt or even a T-shirt would have been unthinkable!

His parents had destined him to take over the Hotel business.

He attended the well known “Lausanne  Ecole Hoteliere" -hospitality school- in Switzerland.

And then began his journeyman years, where he learned and worked in prestigious hotels across Europe, acquiring  simultaneously language skills.

His learning years took him to the Hotel Sacher in Vienna, one of the finest hotels in the world, where the aristocracy and diplomats would meet. A passionate relationship between him and the manager of the Hotel, Mrs. Anna Sacher developed. As a farewell gift she gave him the original recipe of the „Sachertorte“. Sacher cake is passed down only to the immediate family and  baked only on very special occasions.