Hans Funk falls in Love with Gisela Anger

But back then, in 1912, when Hans was twentyfive years of age and his journeyman years came to an end, he went to look for a bride. He did not have to walk far. Just around the corner.

On the other side of the City Theatre stood  the Hotel Anger. Anton Anger, the owner of said hotel had invited his friends to a festive dinner in honor of his daughter Gisela. She had just returned from England. 

After dinner, the band played dance music. Hans called on Gisela  as often as possible to dance with him.  He fell in love with her on the spot. And he wanted to marry her right away.
The next day he asked  formally Anton Anger for the permission to marry his daughter Gisela. For the  old Anger this could only be right, so came one chunk of money to the other.

Aber damals, 1912,  im Golden Zeitalter Karlsbads, als Hans 25 Jahre alt geworden  und  von seinen Wanderjahren  in den Hopfenstock zurückgekommen war,  ging er auf Brautschau. Weit brauchte er nicht zu laufen. Bloß um die Ecke.

Auf der anderen Seite des Stadttheaters befand sich das Hotel Anger. Einmal lud Anton Anger  zu  Ehren seiner ältesten Tochter Gisela, die soeben aus England zurückgekehrt war.

Nach dem Dinner wurde zum Tanz aufgespielt. Hans forderte Gisela so oft wie nur möglich zum Tanz auf. Er hatte sich auf der Stelle in sie verliebt. Und wollte sie auf der Stelle  heiraten.

Am nächsten Tag hielt er formell bei Anton Anger um die Hand seiner Tochter Gisela an. Dem alten Anger konnte dies nur recht sein, so kam ein Batzen Geld zum anderen.

Hans und Gisela Funk

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.

Building boom 1870-1900 in Karlsbad

A building boom started: the small houses were demolished. The old and middle class houses in the Rococo, Neoclassical, Empire and Biedermeier style were  gradually torn down as part of the impressive reconstruction of the city during the years 1870-1900.

In its place were modern and comfortable furnished buildings created with the character of a city that became the most famous spa town of Europe.

The row of houses which the Funks bought,   were also replaced by a huge hotel complex made up of five buildings. There were two adjoining five-story houses in almost the same height. Due to the already rising Theatergasse  only a three-story house was built next to it.

In the rear part of the property  were two other buildings which stood probably always there, they were used as storerooms, ice- and wine cellar.



Hotel Hopfenstock vor 50 Jahren und 1908

On the ground floor in one of the five-story houses was a wall that had always been moldy and smelled of horse manure. It was said that  it was a remnant of the former stables of the Thurn and Taxis Post. Whatever had been tried, the mold did not go away. My grandfather had the wall propped up and replaced with entirely new material, but the mold remained. It will probably still be there today.



Genealogie, oldest record

Our family was linked with the history of the springs at least three centuries. The maternal great-great-grandparents were Franz Funk and his wife Anna.

They founded the Hopfenstock.

Most Funks were goldsmiths. My great-grandfather, Franz Funk was also a goldsmith. I own a jewellery  ensemble from him, which was his tradesman’s masterpiece . It consists of two earrings, a medallion and a comb with elaborately rimmed garnets, turquoises and pearls. The socket is not gold, but metal, gold would have been too soft to handle, it was said.

But he must have thought, that, with a tavern and a few rooms for rent, he could get more money than with the manufacturing of jewellery. The couple looked for a suitable property. In the Theater Alley a small gabled inn was for sale. The house met their expectations: Across the street was the City Theater and the “Schildpark”. In the Schildpark stopped  all stagecoaches for  travelers to get off or to continue their journey to Prague or Nuremberg.

Franz and Anna did not think about it for a long time.They bought the little house.

Das kleine giebelige Haus