Elegance personified
The Grete Wiesenthal Suite - A Tribute to an "Old" Relative.
Hotel Altstadt Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Grete Wiesenthal, waltz pioneer and dance revolutionary
Waltz pioneer, dance revolutionary, and turn-of-the-century "pop star": Grete Wiesenthal not only redefined classical ballet and the waltz at the beginning of the 20th century. She was also the great-cousin of Otto Wiesenthal, the founder of Hotel Altstadt Vienna.
From the outset, no two rooms at Hotel Altstadt Vienna have ever been the same. Many have been designed by well-known artists, creatives, designers, and even actor and regular guest Tobias Moretti. The new 79 sqm Grete Wiesenthal Suite now invites today’s guests to retrace the footsteps of the great dancer. Designed with great sensitivity by young architect Antonella Amesberger, guests reside here in an ambiance of timeless elegance and cultural significance.
Head back and twirl: A large ceiling mirror encourages guests to adopt Grete Wiesenthal's pose and view themselves dancing, reclining, or sitting from a very different perspective.
Grete Wiesenthal Suite at the Hotel Altstadt Vienna
Echoing Grete Wiesenthal's salon, which was known at the beginning of the 1930s as a social and intellectual mecca for famous personalities like Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Franz Theodor Csokor, Carl Zuckmayer, and Stefan Zweig, the living room with library forms the heart of the suite. For dance appointments or meetings of any kind, modular tables handcrafted here in Vienna can be spontaneously and flexibly arranged as required.
The living spaces are celestial, dynamic, and connected to nature, evinced through warm green tones in felt and linoleum, a floral wallpaper design by Felice Rix (Wiener Werkstätte), and a headboard that intentionally leaves the wood grain visible. The artwork by R.C. Andersen just above it shows Grete Wiesenthal dancing at the Salzburg Festival. In the first side- and bedroom, a pianino and series of dance lithographs, which Erwin Lang combined with poems by Richard Billinger, evoke a musical ambiance. Rhythmic movements of body and fabric dance across flowing curtains and textiles throughout the suite.
Timeless globe lights, deliberate color accents in lemon yellow and cobalt blue, and the artistic interpretation of Erwin Lang's woodcuts by street art-rooted Sebastian Schager, turn the suite into an oasis of comfort within a modern Viennese context. Why did it require a bent ceiling mirror, "bitten-off" tables, and a toilet with a special aura? Antonella Amesberger shares more about the challenges of her unique interior design work for Altstadt Vienna on the hotel's podcast "Welcome to Hotel Altstadt Vienna," available on all podcast platforms.
