The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-03-04
Vienna Letter
By STEWART BROWN United Press Staff Correspondent


 Vienna (UP)-If and when Otto of Habsburg returns from exile to take the throne of his ancestors, he will find the Habsburg's best wines and liquors have been drunk by the rabble.
 Should the son of the late Elm peror Karl regain the Habsburg palace in the center of Vienna he will find the old cellars almost empty.
 Thirsty American and English tourists have assisted in draining the former Imperial cellars of their choicest wines and liquors.
 Even today flourishing res taurant and wine shop, located in one of the cellars where the Em- peror formerly stored his, Tokay wines, Is still selling some of the old Imperial alcohols to visiting guests.
 Veterans Profit
 The government is the barman and all profits go to the invalids of the World War.
 Rudolf Goeldner, manager of the "Alter Hofburg Weinkellar." who by the way. does NOT believe Otto wAii return soon, told the United Press that in case His Magesty did come back "he would still find something to drink" %
 There is," he said, plenty of fine old Tokay and Johannisberg in the cellar. How many bottles don't know, but probably several hundred thousand. Also there are many bottles of fine liqueurs. Some of the best, however, were sold at auction immediately after the war and many others have been drunk since."
 Should Otto possess the same taste for wine which legend credit cd to his father (to the dismay of friendly biographers who insist Emperor Karl was light drinker). !. he probably will have to console himself with Tokay and Johan- nisberg. some of which has been in the cellars since 1860.
 High Priced Wine These wines find few buyers ize the Alter Hofburg Weinkellar. A small bottle of one of these old wines cost anywhere from $20 to $50 depending upon the year.
 The Johannisberg wines are from the estates which were given to Prince Clemens Metternich by the Emperor. In return for this gift the Prince had to give the Emperor one-tenth of his wine production. Much of this is still in the Hofburg cellars.
 When the war was over and the Allies were fighting to get possess sion of the Imperial wine cellars, Austria's then Socialist govern ment put them under lock and key to keep them from being footed. It was estimated there were sew eral millions of dollars worth of wines and liquors in the endless cellars underneath the palace.
 Open to the Public
 Hundreds of thousands of dol- lars worth of this stock was auc- tioned off soon after the war and proceeds went to the war veterans. The remainder was placed at the disposal of the veterans association and a restaurant and wine shop was installed on the premises in 1925. For 10 years the Imperial wines have been retailed to anyone who wishes to drink. Many vint- ages, and especially the French wines, have been exhausted. To provide cheaper wines, the man agement has added many postwar Austrian wines.
 But good pre-war Tokay can still be had for less than $40 per small bottle, whereas there are some good pre-war Johannisbergs for less than $5. The champagnes have long ago been exhausted.
 The cellar, as 1t is stocked today, would hardly suit the tastes Of Habsburg-but from all indication Otto would be so happy to re- occupy the palace that he could overlook the baroness of his eel lars. C. t