• 1963: Princess Soraya stays at the Vierjahreszeiten.
• 1961 / 1963: Soraya, the former Queen of Iran and one of the most photographed women of that time was a frequent guest of the Vierjahreszeiten.
Devastated by the divorce from her still loved husband, Mohammed Reza, the Shah of Iran for « raison d’etat » (she could not have children – an heir to the throne) she had difficulties to find a new sens to her life. She often went to the looby watching the « four seasons » emblem in the cupola while daydreaming about her previous state visit to Munich in March 1958. She also liked to observe people walking through the lobby. Most of the times she was accompagnied by her mother Eva. Sometimes she was also sitting there with her friend Johannes von Thurn & Taxis who cheered her up with endless stories that happened a century earlier to his great uncle Paul von Thurn & Taxis and his great aunt Empress Sissi, some of them taking place in the same spot, the famous Vierjahreszeiten Hotel Lobby.
Soraya loved these stories … and a few decades later they were repeated to the editor of this article …
Princess Soraya lived in Munich for a while, her house, Opitzstrasse 6 was off Pienzenauerstrasse in Bogenhausen on the other side of the Isar river, a good hour walking distance from the hotel. Sometimes she liked to walk along the Isar river from Bogenhausen to Maximilianstrasse 17. (see also year 1958 and 2000).
• 2000: The former fan of the Vierjahreszeiten lobby, Princess Soraya lived in Paris where she took Internet lessons at the Cremerie de Paris, once the first Internet Cafe in Paris. The Princess was sometimes a little lonely and the internet lessons distracted her, almost every thursday afternoon she came to the cafe located at 15 rue des Halles. From time to time part of the lessons was looking at websites of the hotels she had been to, among them the two Hotel Vierjahreszeiten, the one in Munich and the one in Hamburg. Due to her uncountable stories these lessons were more than fascinating – walking through history with a true witness. Coffee with Winston Churchill, a glass of wine with Konrad Adenauer, a gin tonic with Drought Eisenhauer. Soraya’s hotel anecdotes resulted in the later creation of « Grand Hotels of the World.com« , edited from the Cremerie de Paris by her former Internet teacher. Most of Queen Soraya’s favorite Hotels are listed. Too bad the editor of the website did not take more notes, but little by little the stories come back to his mind.
One of Princess Soraya's advise was : « whenever I go to a restaurant or to a hotel lobby. I give a tip the moment I arrive never when I leave. The waiter knows I will not forget him and I’m sure he will well take care of me. »
• 2001: Soraya sometimes brought fascinating old photographs. One her last visit, probably 2001 October 11 or 18.
She gave her teacher en envelope with the words (in German) « Danke für die schönen Internetstunden / Thank you for your lessons, I loved them ...
This is something for you, it's not a « pourboire » you need to register all the most iconic and glamorous .com Hotel domain names that are still available … and waybe from time to time you will think about your most untalented internet student ».
A few days later, October 26, she had died.
Soraya’s envelope was full of 500 French Francs bank notes. We had to find some extremely glamorous .com domains, domain names she would have liked, and whenever we came over one, her present was used to pay for the registration fees … During the early years of the Internet, domains could be registered by « just anybody from anywhere » on a « first comes, first served » base … Registering a fresh domain name was something quite inexpensive, less than 50 French Francs, the price of a « café, maybe a cafe crème in the lobby of a Grand Hotel ». : « Grand Hotels of the World.com », « Palace Hotels of the World.com » , « Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten.com » and a multitude of other generic and super iconic Hotel expressions were registered with her present.
And in terms of « domain shopping power » 500 French Francs (152,45 euro) was a significant amount of money.
Sorayas photographs and the domain names are kept like little treasures …
