you are watching d w. news from berlin. coming up next to we've got another documentary and our focus on europe's hotels are legendary hotels, the bow re barge in geneva. i'm terry martin. thanks for watching the news and the women in asia. that's me for them all the money and lunch and on the voices. the only way i can be on top is to create my own empire women this weekend on d. w. ah

ah ah, the history of the illustrious bo revise hotel is dotted with tragedy. more than a century ago, an emperor died in this luxury establishment. she was staying incognito, signing the guest book under a false name. never less. everyone knew she was 50 empress elizabeth of austria. oh. on september the 10th 18. she was stamped in geneva and merger was an anarchist, named julie g. channing. me,

he smiled. he was led away by authorities to see was brought back to the bill. revise was she died in the arms of the hotel now ah, if you use nick evello, this tragic event left its mark on our hotels history to my grandmother funding, who is 24 then, and newly married, and welcome to the impression she had please. even in her lifetime, sissy was already such a mythical figure of legend vol machines. i imagine how emotional it must have been to go from hosting this extraordinary woman see to being at her side in her final moments. the rest, your v. joshua did she still not saved on your mobile

impress? elizabeth was no stranger to this tranquil sweet city. me see. see a doctor. visual honey. cc loved spending time on the shores of lake geneva. it's an exceptional place for the next course y'all. she'd love hiking in the mountains, which was very unusual for a person of her rankle that fateful september day began like any other a stroll. some shopping, nothing special. just before she died, she reportedly asked what happened to me for her rank? she came for just 24 hours on this issue, refund, old showed, had invited her to lunch. she'd been a guest at the boulevard many times before noon, but this was just a short visit. she dropped off her luggage and hurried off to lunch on

a she. then she shopped and eat some ice cream. she loved ice cream t martini glasses. the last she sees memory is kept alive in the home. she once walked showcase displaced the impressive bodice. drops of blood have faded in the fabric with time. o um i can at least a tragic loss left an imprint on our hotel. and the history was brought to light again. in the postwar period when mariska made his legendary films about t c and my sisters and i all watched them, of course we immersed ourselves in the story. knowing the ending took place in our house, fema affected on not missile, where it was quite traumatic for us as children to watch these films that the whole

world was talking about with the knowledge that the end happened here in our hotel could far bottom isn't the bo revise has been owned by the maya family for 5 generations. hotels past and present a closely, intertwined to tom. this is the theater. sometimes the players, lighthearted. a comedy. other times it's tragic. a drama. it's a place that's full of life going to when the hotel was founded in the mid 19th century, there wasn't the same competition that exists today. my great grandfather opened a house that respected the needs of an aristocratic clientele, a secluded kind of world li present to the young kid think you have to type up just see and be seen. that's what 1900 century guests came to do here among their peers

. wiper paragon and the, the reception area is modern and vibrant. teeming with activity is hotel may pay homage to its past, but it's not stuck in it. the unusual semi and so we want to be a family house with solar panels, missile. we all really enjoy working in a house with such a rich history level, but we also must move into the future with modern technology. for example, if it isn't in the month or something, our guest needs have evolved over the years and we have to adapt to them. but as to when you, when you sell just show us that we also have to stay curio and observe what the competition is. doing so before we conclude this commitment course figure down

the price list. but the hidden from the guest is a labyrinth of staff at the bull revised work swiftly to produce the sophisticated touches. the hotel is known for the number. they give the hotel a sole morning. the bouquets helped to fill out the splendid rooms. our guests really appreciate the flowers. if you know pos extern, we've just under $100.00 rooms and sweets the blues are manages to offer

a feeling of intimacy to guess. in the very stars celebrity had been drawn to the hotel charm the nevertheless 12 different halter silky this level, the stars are all different. but those who stay at the both of us embrace its values and that means discretion. in plato pool, they come to hide away so that privacy is respected. the booby vase is not a stage. it's a place to live. you and it's protect it. your kid. type, what is your the luxury suites? look out over lake geneva, with its landmark shade till a fountain the pumps water, a 140 meters high. the bowers fits right into disenchanted landscape with

the lake and the alps. you need to go for geneva is across roads. the mountains cut us off, but the plains are open as far as the i can see. people have to travel to geneva because the lake is an obstacle. even if you want to travel from the north to the south, you have to cross the lake. you'd like to an upstart because you can only do that via geneva for sure, professor most vision, i'm heading south to italy or in the other direction over the saint bernard pass. there's never to look for it. like for the past, geneva is also a crossroads of thought. so where great thinkers develop their theories that jones junk who so this is also part of our history. so if it says it's reflected in the character of the people here, they welcome the whole world yourself. to learn

a little bit from everyone and yet remain themselves there. may fiscal member, man geneva genevieve again, if you never say it would be like it's considered the most cosmo pulse and city in switzerland located in the french speaking part of the country. geneva is the 2nd largest city in switzerland after zurich, 2 characteristics of geneva, discretion and consistency. the words of a 1960 s observer sound, almost timeless. me begin such as the old town of geneva, plain but rich. secret millionaires live here in geneva, poverty is a vice and a person whose bankruptcy is a godless sinner, outcast, ostracized, the times may be changing, but not in geneva. have

a good. geneva is with the french for fullness shown cause in developed his beliefs . there is still echoes of the strict protestant doctrine of calvinism here today supposed to be false and used to holy hill. this is a calvinism that is not religious, but a calvinism of thought. in the spirit of reform law and justice. bhaskar. if he's some of the people of geneva can practice this because they live in a prosperous world. from where you know the city is not all that extravagant. geneva is built on rigor and straightforwardness. we don't show off. we are discrete on the disk, on what all, ah, june, even 150 years ago. jack my, his great grandparents left their homes in germany. his great grandmother came from hanover, his great grandfather, from sleigh b, opening their own hotel in geneva would be an adventure. and obviously in the

doctor's office on psych petrow versus time, would you get it by the next day? need to in the hotel opened in 1865. there was no central heating, electricity, or running water. each room was equipped with a fireplace and the staff carried wood upstairs and ashes back down again. it was a lot of work that you know, in fact, you can receive all of this is a bill for heating material. thank you. do what for ya? partial fashion. here we have 100 kilos of beechwood for heating and a ton of coke. the cock coke at that time was not what we call cocaine today. it was fuel actually cold us, that i put on dirt, which was formed into cold briquettes or blocks for me only get beyond all, did albertine and shown jeff maya, the founders,

enterprising spirits still permeates the hotel, serving as inspiration. innovation was on the couples mines from the start. where was the largest dining room in the city? and the 1st elevator the bo revise, of course. the hotels for from 1900? no, it has a neo classical look. that a cool is elegant and lavish. the illustrious guests came in droves. actors, designer, ben was loyal guest for decades. the maharaja of tatiana artist john cook top, w 7. that is roger moore, from the french president shonda gall greeted by a young shock maya and the sisters.

the princesses and princes politicians, and heads of faith. the hotel guest book is filled with the signatures of the american act to boot. lancaster wrote one student stolen. if walls could talk, each floor of the garage would have stories to tell. especially at the very top where the hotels most exclusive suite is tucked away. it was here that eleanor roosevelt, the widow of us, president franklin d. roosevelt changed the course of history. the year was 1947 and the former 1st lady stayed in the sweetwater drafting a major paper for the united nations. this she those are you exceptional? who the person ask for amanda?

we are here in a very special place where people who have sheep, the worlds have status, guests of new social policy with all the heads of the state, politicians and people who participated in the great geneva conferences. the addition i have. and of course, eleanor roosevelt, an unforgettable personality for geneva, with whom she was in charge of a commission to draft the universal declaration of human rights. and she did it here also like michelle. ok, hotness. it is the fundamental document of the united nations, like a guiding star. so the more for them all to the nationals you need is really to our it's our do no go far the cities, hotels in the united nation. so the very special relationship during state visits, hotel serve as the link between back room politics and official announcements. it's the point between private conversations and we'll say is there like

a discrete unofficial pot to the u. n. o. the most momentous, international conference of the post war era, turned the eyes of the world in summer, or the plan will switch capital of geneva, the gleaming palace of nations, the big for america, england, france, and russia, met to seek an end to a decade of cold war heading, the soviet delegation were bring mirabelle got him and communist body chief cross. jeff, his brain rushes plan. policy of friendship. bruce jeff called will gone back for camera. man, though nominally ranked by the premier, chris just appeared very much. the boss. president eisenhower, accompanied by a secretary of state dollars, offered to exchange complete military information with the russians in a dramatic personal appeal. but the plan was rejected. bible gannon and the president war time friend generals, so called and left me written eton and french premier for support of the daring

american proposal. it was in this hall of the united nations that the so called big form it. it was also here the geneva conference in 1954. was it a new chapter with session motion for viet nam and it's with geneva caught on a chemist that was signed in 1988 the palace of nations in geneva houses the european headquarters of the un. how does the history of the united nations overlap with the hotel over the shallow new shack maya wants to know more about the us 1st lady eleanor roosevelt stay in his family's hotel. he has an appointment with the head archivist of the united nations library.

committed the proposal that the casual position in new york is the committee to prepare the declaration of human rights 1st met exclusively in new york on this then in december 1947. the committee came to geneva to approve the text with eleanor roosevelt has its chairperson to do the evans with txt. kevin, that's right. the way to the here we have the photograph that shows eleanor roosevelt in the holding the universal declaration of human rights, was bent on a very secret candidate. kister who chose her chair. if you don't put it all, i told us president harry truman asked her to help formulate the declaration of human rights. some of the male delegates were not pleased at 1st. they gave

was that because she was a woman, she was an activist, right? yes. and there were many different committees, us president harry truman gave her a job on a committee, dealing with social issues. there was more of a representative job, a token gesture in that and then also putting put gas for her to whoever couldn't do that, especially if it doesn't come about with the influx of refugees. after world war 2, social issues suddenly became pressing will appear, you know, in that case, man. okay. eleanor roosevelt took on the task with a lot of careers masculine renewal. and she was appointed the chair of the commission on human rights to clean support on the mobile. you can take a look at some commission members complained about the pace,

but she was determined to finish within the given time. what do you do on it? don't look at it if it's funny and, and did did. he gave one delegate, i think from indonesia complaint, he said human rights are not respected by the commission on human rights. because she made the delegates work until 7 pm. so i'd like to know what happened at the boulevard back then because she stayed there whenever she visited. cook, surely they were private meetings in the hotels then as there are now and on the previous like which was yes, a lot happens at these informal meetings. this week to be revised is the perfect place for such private or even secret meetings. guests can have their choice of several spacious rooms. but what happens when state guests arrive at the hotel?

he took quite 15 with the top officials and the protection of confidentiality is potentially compromised. that's where tapped is crucial. because on the last, traditionally this a few years ago, i received the former secretary general of the united nations copy of your in that i guess at the same time, we had a delegation here from a country that was not necessarily supposed to be directly associated with the secretary general at harvard, the highest of the united nations, were protocol asked me to let the secretary general into the back entrance or get them on the face of least happy holes. or, of course, i had the red carpet rolls out between the dumpsters. i said to him, i'm sorry to receive your mid the dumpsters, but he just said, don't worry. it happens all the time in new york city. specifically, we want to ask you

about 12000 you in meetings are held each year in geneva much and what that means in terms of the number of guests, the city, the you in place, an important economic role for geneva. as a discretion says hoteliers shock maya is essential beside the palace of nations is parked. it's close to the public for security reasons. the so called country and that soon with its many international organizations forms the sci fi within the city generated the new units on this tonight about municipal event, which geneva became an international city in 1920, with the establishment of the league of nations. and new train station and airport were built to the various institutions and non governmental organizations emerged

such as pacifist or feminist associations, which today form their own international ecosystem. the populace has into it. it's sometimes like the people here are living on 2 different planets within one city. but in recent years and more effort has been made to integrate these organizations into the daily life of geneva. typically it's all going to just what, unless you land on, if you could give the united nations employs around 10000 people in geneva, but add in the n g o z and international organizations. and that number increases at least 3 fold. the hotels naturally benefit from this dynamic in the course, most of international politics and secret meetings, journalists prefer to meet their sources in hotels that night for their discretion . bay, a safe places. how depressed b s? is one such journalist born in new york,

she's an investigative reporter, covering environmental issues, corruption and money laundering. she reports the scene in and out 0 among other publications. the international fame of geneva comes from i guess 2 elements that are sometimes in opposition with each other. on the one hand, you have, of course, the un, the world health organization, the international labor association, the international red cross, of course, that space here. on the other hand, you have the banking sector, which is also very well known internationally. the problem is right now with the stories of money laundering and corruption have been linked so closely to the banking sector. here they have

brought the limelight international, limelight to themselves. unwillingly the such scandals have damage to me. this reputation tends to. it is good name be restored i think geneva is really trying to surpass some of the negative aspects of this image that projects internationally. there's the certain hope that with this new international exchange of data and in what concerns the banking sector, that any of us. so well known for that all these stories that have to lead its

past will pass. i think it's trying as much as possible to maintain geneva as an international center of negotiation of humanitarian issues. so that is where to hope live that all that these bricks conservative lots together. and that that would be how people see geneva in the future. for decades, geneva has attracted not only enterprising reporters and serious journalists, but also pack wrap c from all over the world. the important meetings that taking place under the roof of the boulevard all the time

for hotel. here's jack my. it's all about shielding and protecting chinese lee remaining absolutely invisible when it comes to navigating political interests, financial ties, and image problems. maya is a seasoned expert, clear holder to use at the hospital. the role of a hotel yay, is to remain totally neutral and we are, after all, in a political environment that is neutral, going to makes it cheaper. but as far as the economy is concerned, it's different. we defend in open geneva genevas, that can also play a social role to do this. it needs prosperity, obviously not at all costs, but the city needs to be prosperous. the blue varnish has also seen hard times at the outbreak of the 2nd world war. this was hotel, plunged into crisis. visitors stayed away. the pages of the guest

book remained blank. groceries at b. j. he's already in switzerland was an isolated country. wedged between the blocks of the north and the south east and the west, the progress on it was on the border of the free zone. so people stopped visiting our proposals and the bull. the vars like most hotels closed down for me. private film footage from august and september 1959 shows troops in paris and normandy, the start of world war 2. the camera also captured late. geneva seemingly untouched by the war, but the swiss were not truly unscathed. that was a very difficult time. my parents and uncles,

my grandparents lived outside the city and only occasionally came to era votel opened the windows and check for any flooding for me. so of course, and it was a time that shaped my parents and grandparents them me. i play a lot after that, a new generation came in, my business is reopened, and many tourists came to discover geneva, as it was why they wanted a new life, a different life. so geneva picked up quickly after the war in my house, you have the mark that i go. so you can learn unusual. i spent all my thursdays in this place when i was a teenager because my father received the wine deliveries on thursdays. wines from

oregon. ya or bordeaux, i used to help him open the crate. said we tell you, my job was to use a ruler and make sure that the bottles were aligned perfectly. not even a 2 millimeter difference was allowed to be met. the 2 in weekend or more, my father didn't allow the wine cellar manager to help himself directly from the wine racks, soccer louis, literally it was i think it was a shock because you keep picking the ticket. sort of tickets rack had a card with the name of the wine, the origin, the vintage, the quantity, and the purchase price of what he wrote, the purchase price backwards, so that nobody else knew what he paid for them. to maintain an overview, attach these cards and i spent my childhood cutting them out and then placed on the

rack or force that they could be. they won't do the whole cast. don't good. we met the closer look at the, especially when they're on the most valuable bottles. what does that one mean? the ne, from $79.00 low. so he's not so sound enough from 1979. what beautiful bottles do you know the oldest bottle we have taken on his own? it's not a wine, but a carn. yes. said laughing, jump on the con. yeah. could be from $1820.00 to polio. just missed that one. we still have a few bottles of it. my parents bought it at an auction a long time ago. i don't liberals, she missed all the good wines, come with a long history that the previous had some of the year, or even his predecessor contributed towards like a temple of wine bottles lie here with their dust and history. while the work of

a summary is to continue the history, which goes hand in hand with that of the hotel bell, julia thought that a list of the missile? no, i bring my knowledge and the wines that i like or discover, but i will always respect the tradition of the bordeaux and borg on your lines and bowling bosh surely var just to the low. i hope these bottles will always remain here. for the sake of legacy and future, some of the year for the future. so the lead

me ah, ah, even establishment has carefully managed to the bull revise. there are some things to the hotel owners simply cannot control or prevent like what happened here? just over 30 years ago, this german journalist played a prominent role in the series of events. in october 1987, he discovered the former state premier felicia holstein is the bashful dead in the bath tub. sebastian canal photographed him. the image appeared in the magazine stern provoking something of

a scandal in germany. the school was not going to be john or to interview, so the bo revised as an ideal place for interviews. nice socialist us. even if the hotels management doesn't always appreciate the political interviews are conducted on their premises, on the good of mozilla histone, you can create a good atmosphere with, especially in luxury hotels where the guest feels comfortable and can open up a business a hoses. so how did the scandal happen? the best in canada had travelled from, handled to geneva, in the hope of conducting an interview with the former journalist, a premier if she had been accused of organizing the smear campaign against a political opponent, the journalist was hoping to meet us in the bomb. oh

gosh, didn't appear. so the journalist entities room the next day without permission. so it's hard for me to log on and so i'm a show off, isn't fluid was dimly lit with him, but there was a single shoe in the hallway. so there was a corridor that led to the bearings, and there were other things lying about. it's such as pajamas. some sweets of this book by john paul saw was open, surprisingly enough, open to a certain story that deals with suicide. and this was all the documents i was interested in, were lying there as it prepared for a journalist visit and how that went. and i wasn't sure how i should document them so much. so i took the papers to my photographer and do blood post and had told them to wait outside the room and let me know when mister bosher returns from the listing he was supposed to keep a lookout and warned me by all skin seemed to me on my way out, i knocked on the bathroom door. i opened the door and saw the bathroom mirror. there was a lifeless body in the bath tub and leaped was no wonder, licked nobody o'clock he was calling was clear to me then that something

terrible it happened. dan reporter found partial dead in his bathroom, made early reports suspect. the politicians shot himself, vote and journalist found him in the bath tub. his head above the water, apart from his shoes, basha was fully closed. as soon as this on the setter sunday shows come on, that was 1987. and these things can happen. they can happen anywhere any time in the horse is just our role is to deal with this as a public place where children are born, a place full of life. people are born here married here and they die here, or see martin that life and the hotel is about life. and with dose of is

following the german politicians, death, journalists and photographers camped out for weeks in front of the hotel entrance. inside the boot of ours, swiss and german criminal investigators tried to determine whether it was suicide and murder, or a natural death. how did the hotel deal with the aftermath? with signature discretion? the room number 317 simply no longer exists. there we go. to menus with frogs, ravioli, salmon, lustre, so fog and 2 orders of venison. just like so many good. g is the hit shift to revise. like his predecessor, he has a mission,

stop the restaurant, lou shovel to open 50 years ago to the outside world. before then, it was exclusively for the hotel guests. the products come from the lake and the mountains, seasonal and region. every provision of cooperate it when they go when you're young, you chase after the stars point in the michelle or star city. that's just incredible for a chef is present portal to be famous, genius and you know, but as you get older, you realize that the most important thing is to please your guests before you seem to be attentive when killing the cell. if you prioritize the customer, you know, the stars will follow on their own was bottled. did you learn that at the age of 50?

just going to say come from the mind subsidy, that collegial or me a table has to feel friendly. that's important. on the land that it has to look beautiful and inviting to the surroundings you should feel at home to a table set like this. invite you to sit down and have a meal. sit appetizer for 2 front legs in better. deep fried, served with garlic, milk, thumb, speech thaws and fresh basil. it's a classic dish here. subsidy

. when we black. these are the frogs. a dish i developed a good 15 years ago. i like yeah. it's on the menu every day. feel really que many guess come for the frogs, savannah or the burgers ready? yet? we even have fast food hotel. you have to do it all. the borrower's eyes opened more than a 150 years ago. how does it present tradition you still keep up with the times when the national accounts and she didn't. and we're fortunate to have a very loyal clientele who have been coming here for many years this year. similar to that in the level of course, we try to take care of these customers as well as their children or even

grandchildren will want things done differently and all have different demands. feel more nissan us to adapt to this new to the hotel manager, the florist, the head of reception. they all share the same philosophy. this house has a song because they give it one shaggy, that'll show us the proper name. she's got the, the about a form of each generation has its own way of expressing itself, even if we all maintain the same fundamental values. my father, for example, was a man who enjoyed good food. he opened the house to gas, drop me into a modern world, which was a world of business matter, don't see one year due to his period when he took over the both of us. he catered to a new generation that came to geneva for conferences and seminars. that had nothing to do with the find society of the bell because some of the crew is going to put it

up. and i also had to further develop the house. you find them shows the more geneva connects with the world, the more secure the future. it's hard, that's obvious susana. so how will the coming generations, the 5th of the 6 change things, 40 years from now? that's what i'd like to know. i can see jimmy national ball can handle some of us on the so well me revise. each generation has had a hand in writing. the hotels history can be politics. to celebrity encounters the owners of navigated every twist and turn with signatures with discretion. and they are ready to greet what chapter comes next? ah

ah ah, food begins mediately after the hardest press free to end up in the garbage instead of the supermarket. that should change with appeal liquid that increases the self life food is this way to avoid and waste global 3090 minutes on b w. the power point where i come from.

i never saw the sun where mixed up in brazil, the sun was always the man since the boys to give words per son. masculine. when i moved to germany as a 10 year old, i was the cartoon on tv that states how i'd be the world. because with the side of the piney instead of a deep voice extra when this guy seems absolutely incredible. i realized how language shape, thinking, how far i'm not only mentally made to put our whole perception of the world inside faith, my life. and was one of the reasons i became a join the mystery. kelly and i use my words to help with infant cultural understandings. my name is l'aquila and i work at

the me the news . this is news life from berlin, volunteers bring hope and a helping hand to the towns in germany, devastated by the worst floods in generations with emergency crews still dealing with life and death situation. citizens are filling the gaps, also coming up england, most vulnerable fear for their safety as the country ditches nearly all. corona virus restriction. very angry, very angry. everything that we thing through some are calling it the freedom.